


The Lunar Café

by lovelunarchron



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-08 04:50:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 32,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4291416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelunarchron/pseuds/lovelunarchron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cinder can’t stop thinking about the mysterious and handsome Kai who comes to her café every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:45 pm sharp. Thorne, her barista colleague, is pretty sure that Kai’s got it just as bad for Cinder.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cinder in particular is a little OOC in this one.

The Lunar Café was still moderately crowded, but it was much more manageable than the other evening shifts that Cinder worked. At this time on a Friday night, most of the local college students who frequented the joint during the week were getting ready to go out to a party—at least that's where Cinder assumed they went. Since she was trying to pay her way through school, she didn't have much time to go to social events. Ringing up a customer, she sighed happily at how few people would still be here in just over an hour. She would probably even be able to pull out her notes and get a head start for her test next week. Only the regulars would be here, and they were fairly low-maintenance. They couldn't be bothered by what day of the week it was or if Cinder did her homework so long as they got enough refills on their coffee.

One of her favorites was a slightly scatter-brained psychology major named Winter. She was always consumed by notes and massive books that seemed to never end. She'd scribble furiously and mutter to herself without fail. Cinder's favorite part about observing Winter, though, was when her boyfriend, Jacin, came in to visit her. He wasn't always around, because Winter was fairly engrossed in her studies, but when he did come in she would always look at him as if nothing in the world could tear her eyes away from his face. Jacin would kiss her on the forehead and take off her coat, as if she'd forgotten to do it herself in the two hours she'd already been sitting there. Then he'd stroll up to the register and order two double skinny macchiatos. Even though by now Cinder knew their names, he'd always insist that she write "Trouble" on Winter's cup instead. On Friday nights, he'd sometimes convince Winter to sit with him in one of the couches and they'd take turns poking each other and just being so cute that it made Cinder want to throw up sometimes. In a good way.

Wolf was also here tonight, like he always was, in the right-hand corner by the window. She'd been trying to figure him out for a long time, but his presence had grown on her. Wolf certainly had an air of mystery about him; he frequently sat hidden behind a newspaper or magazine and an absurdly large plate of donuts. But Cinder had been observing him and could tell that he often watched the other customers intently. He never smiled, but he was never rude, so Cinder wasn't exactly put-off by him. She'd seen the way his features softened whenever a certain red-head came into The Lunar Café. The name she always gave for her coffee cup was Scarlet, but Cinder was pretty sure that Wolf didn't know that. They'd never talked. But Cinder had the distinct feeling that he sat in the coffee shop so often because he was somehow waiting for Scarlet to show up. She didn't have regular times like the others, though, so lately Wolf was almost always at the Lunar Café in the evenings, probably waiting for her. It was slightly creepy, if she thought about it too much, but maybe he was just shy. At least he was a decent tipper.

"Cinder! Did you lose track of time or something? He's almost here!"

Thorne, the only other barista on duty with her Friday nights, nudged her with his hip and smiled suggestively. Cinder blushed furiously. But without hesitation, she checked her watch. Thorne was right. 5:35 P.M. He'd be here in precisely ten minutes. After finishing the latest order in a hurry, she ducked into the bathroom briefly to inspect her appearance.

She sighed when she saw herself in her work uniform—a black apron that covered practically anything she could show off. Which wasn't much, in her opinion. Her hair was messy as usual, so she tried to smooth it back into a loose ponytail to give her face a softer look. She didn't have any coffee grinds on her face tonight, though, which tended to be almost a constant after making so many drinks. She just wasn't good at looking put together. This was as good as it was going to get.

At 5:42 P.M., she began busying herself with as many orders as possible. It was important for her to look busy. Like she hadn't been waiting for him to come back to the coffee shop since Wednesday. He always came in Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays at 5:45 P.M. And he always got a white chocolate mocha. She added a little extra whip cream to his drink free of charge, and she liked seeing his content expression every time he tasted it. He sometimes told her that she made the best coffee in town.

She remembered the first time she'd met him, about two months ago, on a particularly blustery night.

"Love to the moon and back, eh?" he commented when she took his order.

"Huh?"

He pointed to the sign above her, which bore The Lunar Café's slogan: _You'll love your coffee to the moon and back_. Then he gave her an easy, dazzling smile that nearly took her breath away.

Their interactions since he'd started coming back regularly hadn't been too bad. Sometimes they said hi. Sometimes he asked her how her day was going. Sometimes he commented on the weather or the new decorations in the shop. Cinder tried to think of intelligent things to say when he wasn't around that she could impress him with, but whenever he finally showed up and smiled at her she would just get too flustered.

When the bell above the door jingled at 5:45 P.M., she acted as though she were scribbling something on an order list. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him approach the counter and greet Thorne. Thorne excused himself and said he realized that he forgot an order for the drive-thru, and suggested that perhaps Cinder would be able to take care of his order.

Cinder looked up from her fake scribbles and grabbed the cup on which she'd already scrawled his name pre-emptively. _Kai._

"White chocolate mocha, 2% milk?" she asked, beginning to write it on the cup.

"You remembered," he said, smiling.

"Of course!" she said excitedly, then realized she needed to tone it down a notch. "I mean, I remember my regular customers."

He continued to smile, and she began to feel breathless. Why couldn't she just work up the courage to ask him a few questions? She stared at him for a moment until Thorne came up next to her.

"Any big weekend plans?" he asked, likely realizing that she was stuck being dazzled. Thorne was always rescuing her from embarrassing herself completely.

Kai didn't take his eyes off Cinder. "Maybe going to the game, not really sure. What about you?"

"I have a date with a lucky lady," said Thorne, winking at him.

"Ah, of course," said Kai knowingly.

Cinder busied herself with Kai's order as they continued making small talk and she scolded herself internally as she realized that Thorne knew more about Kai than she did. When she'd finished his order, she set it on the counter for him.

"I hope you have a great weekend!" she said a little too enthusiastically.

Kai took his drink and sipped it appreciatively. "Just the way I like it. Thanks, Cinder. See you Monday?"

"See you Monday," she said quietly as he turned to walk out the door again. Then she slumped against the counter.

" _Mamma mia_ , you are so in love with that boy," Thorne said in his accented drawl. "When are you going to let me help you with your love life?"

Thorne asked her that every Friday night after Kai had gone, when they repeated the same game of him trying to give her tips and telling Cinder that she was hopeless when she refused to implement any of them. Thorne was an Italian who had decided to study in the U.S. for his graduate degree. He considered himself a master of love, a thief of hearts. To Cinder, he was mostly just a hopeless flirt. Thorne said it was his nature. According to him, it was the job of every Italian man to romance a woman the best way he could. Apparently, that entailed a string of so-called romantic yet cheesy lines that were loosely translated from his native language. His way with words was too flowery for Cinder, but she could tell that most of the girls swooned at this handsome "Italian Stallion." Some of them even requested him specially. It did help keep the tip jar pretty full, though.

She was pretty embarrassed that Thorne knew all about how pathetic her non-existent love life was. He liked to tease her about her hopeless crush on Kai often. He also insisted that she needed to experience more of the _dolce vita_ , and to let loose a bit and just have fun like he did. Regardless, she was usually happy for his company during the slower hours and even happier when he interceded on her behalf to make her look less ridiculous in front of Kai.

Kai had looked so great tonight, though. He always did. How could she not feel the way she did every time she saw him?


	2. Chapter 2

Despite the "See you Monday," Kai did not show up at the Lunar Café on Monday. Cinder wondered where he was for the rest of her shift and analyzed all possible reasons that he might not have shown up. He was too busy studying. He was sick. The weather was too bad for him to drive here (did he even drive here? Did he just walk from campus?). His family was in town visiting. He had to help an old lady. He was busy saving the world, because he was, in fact, Superman. Her excuses got more ridiculous the more she thought about it.

On Wednesday, Cinder fidgeted with some straws nervously until 6:15 P.M. when Thorne finally yanked them out of her hands. "Cinder, stop that. He's obviously not coming. No point in ruining all of our straws in the process."

"Right," she said, snapping out of it. "You're right." It was ridiculous to dwell on this. She had aced her most recent exam. She almost had a 4.0 GPA. She was independent from her family. She had a steady job. There was no need to lose focus because of a guy. Even if he was the most gorgeous guy she'd ever encountered. No, it wasn't worth it.

The bell rang and she jerked her head up in anticipation despite her conviction just seconds ago, but it wasn't Kai. It was the redhead, Scarlet. Cinder peeked at Wolf in the corner, who straightened from behind his paper. The paper he'd been reading since he'd come in two hours ago. Hopefully it had an interesting Sudoko puzzle.

Cinder let Thorne take her order. She knew he had a soft spot for Scarlet. He'd mentioned how attractive she was and how there were no redheads in Italy, so he'd been intrigued. Cinder had clued him in on her thoughts about Wolf's obsession with her, and Thorne had backed off immediately on any advances he may have planned. Though Wolf never really did anything but read and stare, Thorne had postulated that Wolf could take him out in a heartbeat. "It's not worth it," he'd said.

Scarlet stood by the counter as she waited for her order. She looked around the café, first at an elderly couple, then at Winter in her usual spot, and finally fixed her eyes on Wolf. He dove behind his newspaper. The corner of Scarlet's mouth turned up, but she withdrew her gaze. Her eyes met Cinder's, and Scarlet gave her a wink. Cinder was slightly embarrassed to be caught watching.

When Thorne handed her the coffee crate, Scarlet put her hand over his. "Why _grazie_ , Thorne. You take such good care of your customers."

Thorne raised an eyebrow. "Always a pleasure, _signora_."

She tossed some hair over her shoulder and strolled out of the café as if she owned the place. Cinder didn't know what to make of that exchange. Scarlet was into Thorne? She highly doubted it. Then again, _everyone_ was into Thorne. She suddenly wondered if everyone analyzed her interactions with Kai the way she did with the others. The thought made her stomach flip.

When Scarlet had left, Winter breezed over to Wolf, who seemed startled that someone had noticed him, let alone come to his usually vacant corner of the café. Cinder was amazed to see Winter out of her study reverie. "You really should talk to her, you know."

"Excuse me?"

Winter sat down and took one of his donuts. Wolf looked so taken aback that he didn't even say anything. "It's unhealthy to just stare at someone," she said. "Human contact is good."

She took a bite of the donut and sighed happily. "I can see why you get these all the time."

Wolf stared at her. "How do you know what I get?"

"I've been watching you."

Wolf spluttered into his coffee, then composed himself. "But…you're always studying."

She beamed. "You've been watching me too! We can be friends, then."

"I—I'm not really looking for friends," he muttered.

Winter continued talking in her airy voice as if he hadn't just insulted her. "I could help you. I'm a psychology major. I study these kinds of things."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Denial is Step 2 of the 10 Phases of—"

"I don't need your help," he cut her off abruptly.

She shrugged. "Well, think about it."

Wolf didn't reply. Winter didn't move. She just continued staring at him while she ate her donut. It was funny to see Wolf squirm a bit under her gaze.

The bell rang and Jacin came in, which surprised Cinder, because he normally showed up first on Fridays. He almost doubled back when he noticed that Winter was not in her usual spot. "Winter...what are you doing?"

"Making friends," she said happily. "He's not convinced yet, but I think this is the start of a long friendship."

Jacin strode over quickly. "I'm Jacin," he said, extending his hand.

Wolf took it reluctantly. "Wolf."

"And I'm Winter," she said. She reached for another donut, but Jacin grabbed her hand in his. "Winter!"

He looked at Wolf. "Sorry."

Winter stared at Wolf. "If it bothers you, just say it."

"I guess…I don't really care," he said, and pushed the plate towards her. Winter looked triumphantly at Jacin. "See? Friends."

Winter didn't take another donut though. Instead, she got up and walked back to her spot with Jacin in tow, who still seemed a bit shell-shocked by her interactions with Wolf. Cinder was more than eager to hear what he had to say about it, and thought about walking over there with a fresh pot of coffee, but a new customer came in and she resigned herself to minding her own business again.

Near closing time, when almost everyone was gone—even Wolf, Winter, and Jacin—Thorne suddenly nudged Cinder when another customer came in. For a split second, hope filled her. It was Kai. He'd come after all.

But it wasn't. It was just a blonde girl that she'd never seen before. Thorne whistled under his breath. "My customer," he whispered to Cinder.

"No problem there," she muttered, already filled with disappointment. She busied herself by starting the tedious clean-up routine and observed Thorne interact with "his" customer out of the corner of her eye.

"Large caramel frappuccino. Easy on the ice," she said dryly, not even looking at him. Thorne punched her order into the cash register, and after she'd paid, he pulled out a cup.

"What's your name, _bella_?"

"Cress," she said, rummaging through her purse.

"Well, Cress, has anyone ever told you that your eyes are more beautiful than the sunrise?" He smiled seductively the way he did whenever he was trying to win someone over.

The blonde eyed him, clearly annoyed. "That line work on every girl that comes in here?"

Thorne didn't miss a beat, though. "Of course not, I have never seen a girl in here who is as beautiful as you."

She snorted. "Well, maybe before you try to compliment a girl, you should see what color her eyes are first. Mine are blue, so they clearly can't be like a sunrise. Unless you've never seen a sunrise before."

Thorne faltered for a moment. Then he smiled again, his usual composure only thrown for a heartbeat. "It's an expression, Cress. But if you prefer, I can say that your eyes are as wide as the sky, and deep as the sea. Simply stunning."

"I _prefer_ that you don't talk to me and just give me my coffee," she said, moving to the pick-up counter.

Thorne's face fell slightly, but he made her drink with impressive speed and zipped it over to her. "I hope you have an excellent night, Cress."

She walked out of the store hastily.

Thorne clutched his heart as Cinder stifled a laugh at his first rejection. "Cinder, I must have died and gone to Heaven. She is surely an _angel_."

Cinder waved away his comment. "Could you stop and listen to yourself for a moment? You're ridiculous. You say that kind of thing about _every_ girl."

"I will never say it again," he said dramatically.


	3. Chapter 3

"Have a Happy Valentine's Day. We love you to the moon and back." Cinder recited the words robotically to a customer as she handed him his drink. She'd only been on her shift for less than an hour, and already she wanted to shove those words down throats of the Lunar Café owners.

"Don't forget our special Valentine's Day greeting," they'd said. "A little love goes a long way."

Sure it did. Especially if you were already in a relationship and co-owned a café together and never had to recite your own stupid slogan. Leave that to your employees. Worse even was the headband—if you could even call it that—which all employees were forced to wear for the three days leading up to Valentine's Day. To Cinder, it just looked like one of those reindeer antlers that people wore on their heads during Christmas. But with hearts. It was completely embarrassing. Even Thorne couldn't pull it off without looking silly.

It had been a whole week since she'd seen Kai. And even though it was Valentine's Day, and a large part of her wished that Kai would come in, declare his love, and kiss her passionately into the night, another part of her really hoped that today wouldn't be the day he came back to the café. The absolute last thing she needed him to see was her in heart antlers. She shuddered at the thought.

"Hey, check this out," Thorne told her, then snickered just a bit.

Cinder glanced up from the espresso machine and nearly spilled the drink she'd been prepping. Wolf had just walked through the door. He did not look anything like the Wolf she had grown accustomed to in the café over the past few months. Instead of his usual dark jeans and black jacket, Wolf wore a suit. Kind of. He had on blue and white checkered pants, a collared white shirt, and a fitted navy blazer. To top it off, he had on a bowtie—a dorky little bowtie. The whole look was kind of adorable. It reminded her a bit of a Harry Potter movie she'd seen where one of the characters hadn't exactly had the newest of outfits to wear to a school dance. Wolf exuded more confidence than Ron Weasley though, and he somehow managed to pull it off.

He carried a white rose and a book in his hand. When he sat down, he placed it on the corner of his table. Then he shook his head, picked up the rose again, and placed the book on the table instead. After studying it a moment, he opened the book and set the stem of the rose between some of the pages before shutting it again. He nodded approvingly, as if pleased with himself. Then he folded his hands on the table and sat there expectantly. Cinder just stared at him.

"Is he taking Winter's advice?" Cinder asked Thorne under her breath.

"Maybe he's going to ask Scarlet to the Prom," Thorne joked with a grin. "Let me handle this one."

Thorne waltzed over to Wolf with a pot of coffee. "This one's on the house," he told Wolf as he began filling his cup. Cinder noticed that he did _not_ tell him that they loved him to the moon and back. When he finished, Thorne paused. "Hey buddy, you need some tips or anything?"

Wolf turned bright red, and then looked around to see if anyone had heard him. Cinder pretended to be interested in the dessert display. "No," he replied. "I'm ready."

"Okay then. Well you just let me know if I can help at all." Thorne shot him a wink. "Good luck to you."

"What if she doesn't come?" Cinder asked Thorne when he got back behind the counter.

Thorne shrugged. "Love is pain."

Cinder eyed him. "You're not still going on about that girl from the other day, the one who—"

"Cress," Thorne corrected her. "Her name is Cress. And yes, I haven't forgotten her."

"Didn't you just have a date the other day?"

"Of course," he replied simply, as if stating the weather.

"But you're—that's—how can you—" Cinder spluttered.

"How can I go on a date with someone and yet think about Cress?" Thorne asked, raising an eyebrow. "Simple. My other date was boring."

"You spoke with Cress for what? Three minutes."

"And they were three fantastic minutes."

"Oh, shut up," said Cinder.

They began arguing about Thorne's dating life, and whether what he did was ethical or not. It got so heated, that she didn't even notice that a couple walked in until they were standing right in front of her and Thorne. When she finally acknowledged them, her jaw dropped.

It was Kai. _With a girl_.

Not just any girl. A curvy, tall, cute girl with neat little braids. Without stupid heart antlers. Her arm was looped through Kai's, and they were laughing about something.

_Her dream guy had a girlfriend_. Of course he would. Why would a perfect specimen like him be alone? Or not at least have a date for Valentine's Day? She noticed Thorne had disappeared as he always did when Kai showed up. She wished more than anything that today of all days, he could take this particular customer. Cinder tried to recover from her shock, and forced her jaw to work again.

"Hello-and-welcome-to-the-Lunar-Café," she said, mushing all the words together. "Can-I-help-you?"

"Hi Cinder," said Kai brightly. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Cinder kept her focus on the girl, who squinted at the list of drinks. "I'll have a small skinny peppermint."

Oh, a _skinny_ one, thought Cinder angrily.

"Hmm, that sounds good," said Kai. "I'll try that too. Make mine a large though."

_Of course you will._ This time the dialogue in her head came out sarcastic, bitter. _You'll try a new drink to impress a girl._

"Whip cream on that?" she asked dryly.

"Of course!" he said, and he sounded like he was smiling. She, of course, was still not looking at him.

"So whip cream for Kai and a small skinny for...?" She pursed her lips at Kai's date/girlfriend/lover.

"Iko," she said. "I'll take whip cream too, though!"

Kai poked her. "Don't go messing up your diet."

Cinder thought it was a _very_ rude thing to say to a romantic interest, but Iko just laughed. Iko apparently was so confident that she didn't mind Kai insulting her. Cinder despised them both. She quickly made their drinks, and handed them to Kai, who was waiting for her at the counter. Iko was looking at some of the Valentine's mugs they had on display.

"Happy Valentine's Day," she told Kai. "I love you to the moon and back." Kai raised his eyebrows. "I mean, WE! _We_ love you to the moon and back. Like our slogan. About the coffee," she pointed to the sign and then practically dashed away from the counter without waiting for his response. She locked herself in the bathroom and leaned over the sink, feeling sick with sadness and mortification.

She would not cry. She would not cry. She would not cry. She would not cry.

But she couldn't bring herself to leave the bathroom either. Cinder stayed there another fifteen minutes trying to pull herself together until she heard a knock on the door. "It's occupied!" she called out.

Thorne answered her. "I know," he said. "Can I come in?"

"No," she called back.

"He's gone," Thorne said. "And I think you want to come out."

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Because he left you something."

Cinder opened the door a crack. "What?"

"Come and see."

Cinder grudgingly came out of the bathroom after double-checking that she didn't look smudgy. Or heartbroken. Thorne stood at the other side of the door, holding up a red envelope.

"You shouldn't have run away. He left you a card."

"A card?" she sniffed. She tried reaching for the card, but Thorne held it up high. She jumped for it.

"Ah, ah, ah, just a minute. There's something you should know first."

"Let me guess, they're pregnant."

"Cinder, now why would he leave you a card if that were what I was going to say?"

She huffed. "Because they're inviting me to a baby shower?"

Thorne only rolled his eyes. "The girl with him was _his sister_."

Cinder snapped out of her wallowing, almost not daring to believe what she'd heard. "You mean—related to him as in—"

"—As in not together."

Letting out a sigh of relief at this new revelation, Cinder nearly slid down the wall behind her. Thorne steadied her, then took her in for a hug. It was oddly comforting even though they had never hugged before. She was so grateful for Thorne at the moment. And Iko—she wasn't with Kai! Kai was still—well, maybe not necessarily single, because he could technically still have a girlfriend, but at least he was 100% more single than he was one minute ago.

"Give me my card," she told Thorne after giving him another squeeze. She ripped off the envelope and pulled out the card. It had a picture of a coffee mug with a heart on it. On the inside, the card's inscription said: _Nothing like a good drink to warm the heart._

Then, in scribbly handwriting, it said:

_Dear Cinder,_

_Thanks for always making me the best coffee. I look forward to seeing you next week again. Happy Valentine's Day._

_Sincerely,_

_Kai_

Cinder read the card over and over, and then handed it to Thorne. Together, they scrutinized it for several minutes. For the rest of the shift, they discussed every detail. Kai maybe liked her. He had gotten her a card, after all. He looked forward to seeing her next week. He enjoyed her coffee. Maybe he was just too shy to say that he liked her, and this was his way of showing it. But maybe he was just being friendly. After all, he'd written "sincerely." Maybe he really did _just_ like her coffee. Thorne said that while there was possibility, Cinder should be annoyed at Kai in the case that he _did_ like her. When she asked him why, he said that a real man should just admit his feelings. Cinder told him that his way of thinking was archaic. Thorne retorted that he came from the land of romance, so being a little old-fashioned was not a bad thing. Cinder informed him that they were in America now. They bickered for a bit and then went back to discussing Kai's card. Thorne pointed out that Cinder hadn't even gotten _Kai_ a card. This sent her on a new spiral of doubts.

Towards the end of her shift, Cinder finally started paying attention to the customers again, who beforehand had seemed like a blur. She finally noticed Wolf's corner, and with a start, saw that he wasn't there. His rose, book, and dorky bowtie were all gone. Cinder felt guilty for not having noticed when he left and not even paying attention as to whether Scarlet came in or not. She was sure that Thorne would have told her if she had come in while Cinder was moping in the bathroom. Nonetheless, she really hoped that he'd found his Valentine sometime throughout the night, or was on his way to find her now.


	4. Chapter 4

Cinder brought Kai's letter home with her. After clutching it a long time and re-reading it more than she thought possible, she considered hanging it up on the bulletin board in her dorm room. Then she decided that this was definitely a very, very bad idea. Someone who came into her room could easily spot it and spread unwanted rumors that could travel back to Kai. Because even if she didn't know who exactly he was or where he lived on campus, the person that ended up seeing the card would undoubtedly turn out to be Kai's best friend. Such was her luck. In an even worse scenario, she imagined that Kai would somehow come by her dorm some time, once they got to know each other better, and he'd see it hanging there. Then run away screaming. She decided instead to put it safely in a drawer in her wardrobe. That way, she could still see it privately every day and smile a little at the hope that came with it.

When she returned to work on Monday, she looked forward to commenting to him about the card. She wondered how he'd spent his Valentine's Day. Just with his sister, she hoped. Regardless, everyone who stood in line with their friends had stories about Valentine's Day weekend, and Cinder found herself too immersed in their gossip to think too much more about what had transpired during Kai's weekend.

Winter sat in her spot as usual, already there since before Cinder's shift had started. Jacin, however, had arrived earlier than usual today, and she noted that he was particularly smiley. This was saying something, because Jacin normally only reserved his smiles for Winter.

"Have a good weekend?" she remarked, quirking an eyebrow knowingly.

"The best," he said happily. He was quite handsome when he smiled, she noted.

"Glad to hear it. Am I still writing Trouble on her cup as usual then?" she asked as she prepared the double skinny macchiatos he always ordered.

"You can write _Double Trouble_ ," he snickered. "She'll get a kick out of that."

Cinder suppressed the urge to vomit a little and just abbreviated to D.T. on the cup. He could explain his own suggestive, weird name to her in private. Thorne barreled through the door as Jacin was leaving the register, nearly knocking him over on his way back to Winter. The line of customers waiting for Cinder quickly made a hole for him to rush through.

"You're late," she said irritably.

"Sorry, sorry, traffic."

"Traffic on the sidewalk?" she asked dryly.

"I stopped to have some _necessary_ conversations," he said, putting down his backpack. "But I'll tell you about that some other time. For now, ask me why I'm out of breath."

"Because you're late."

"No, I already told you why I'm late."

"Fine, why are you out of breath?"

"I saw _her_. She's on her way here now."

"Who?"

"Only the most beautiful American girl I have ever seen." He whipped out several cups. "Quick, make it look like I'm busy."

Cinder stared at the line of waiting customers. "We _are_ busy."

"Oh, right. Of course." Thorne stepped forward. "Can I help the next customer please?"

As Thorne began ringing up customers, Cinder continued what she had been doing in bewilderment until the bell at the door sounded. Thorne jerked up instantly, but then ducked his head down again just as quickly. Cress, the blonde girl that Thorne had supposedly been drooling about since he'd seen her that one time, had entered the café. As she mocked him silently, a bit of guilt hit her. Hadn't she done the same thing since the first time she'd seen Kai? No, she thought to herself, that was different. Thorne was a good friend, but not to be taken seriously in regards to amorous pursuits.

Cress approached the end of the line and concentrated on scrolling through something on her phone. Cinder saw Thorne glance up hopefully as much as possible, and felt a slight burst of pity for him at the rejection that was sure to come. And yet, in her opinion, a bit more rejection couldn't hurt to bring down his massive ego _just_ a tad. When it was almost Cress's turn, Thorne turned to Cinder and whispered to her through nearly closed lips. "Please take care of anyone else who comes in. You owe me for Kai."

He was right. She did owe him for all the times he had made himself sparse so she could have those brief five minutes alone with Kai. She prepared herself to get stressed, but saw that no other customers had trickled in yet behind Cress. Good. Now she could just take a break and watch the rejection in all its glory. Or perhaps, his triumph? Girls did always respond positively to him. Perhaps this girl would come around too.

"Good evening, Cress," he said. "So nice to see you again, _bellissima_."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, it's you again. Why do you always have to speak to me in a different language?"

"It's hard not to. When I look at you, my mother tongue comes out."

She made a face. "Gross. Is that some sort of creepy sexual reference?"

Thorne tried to laugh. "Uh—no. I'm Italian. I only meant that such beauty as yours should be celebrated. There aren't enough words in the English language to describe the emotions I feel when I look at you. Italian comes out naturally when you are around."

She gaped at him. Then recovered quickly. "Can I just have my coffee and go?"

"Of course. Large caramel frappucino. Easy on the ice, right?"

"You remember that?"

"I always remember the orders of my favorite customers," he said smoothly. "Can I interest you in our daily special as well?"

She sighed. "What is it?"

"Cinnamon rolls. Only $1.99 each. And believe me when I say they are too beautiful, too pure for this world. Just like you."

"You did not just compare me to a cinnamon roll."

Cinder coughed. "I think he just means that they're really good," she clarified. "He mixes up expressions sometimes. You know"—she waved her hands in the air dismissively—" _foreigners_." She hoped that her pretend explanation would make up for some of Thorne's dramatics. She'd seen him flirt before, and despite his cocky exterior, she realized that he might actually be nervous for once. He was really laying it on thick. Way too thick.

"I don't want one," said Cress pointedly. Then she softened slightly. "Sorry if I was rude."

Thorne smiled in a way that would have made most red-blooded girls melt. Cress, apparently, did not share the same red blood, because she remained unfazed.

"Do you have a boyfriend, Cress?" he asked hesitantly.

She looked at the ceiling, seemed to collect herself, and then narrowed her eyes at him. "Why do you want to know?"

"I think it should be obvious why I ask."

"Well, then it should be obvious that I'm not going to tell you."

"I see," he said, but instead of rejection, a grin was playing on his lips. "I accept that challenge."

Thorne practically jumped over the counter until he was standing next to Cress. Cinder watched him, dumbfounded. "I wonder," he said loudly, "does Cress have a boyfriend?"

The entire café went silent. "You see," he said, "I'm overwhelmed by her beauty, and I'd like to ask her out some time. But she's giving me a bit of a hard time here. I just want to make sure it's not because some incredibly lucky man has already won her over."

A guy in the café cheered as two girls looked at each other and said "aww." Cress's face turned a light shade of pink.

Thorne gestured to the couple by the door. "Do you know if she has a boyfriend?"

They shook their heads.

To Cinder's surprise, Winter piped up. "No, she doesn't."

Thorne placed his hands over his heart dramatically and beamed at Winter. "You have just made me one happy man."

Cress marched over to Winter and glared at her. Thorne followed.

"What?" Winter asked. "You live on my floor. You definitely don't have a boyfriend. I've never even seen a guy in your room."

Cress continued to shoot daggers at Winter with her eyes. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I have a long-distance boyfriend? Or that perhaps we could be a bit more conservative than everyone else who is"—she turned her glare towards Thorne—"just sleeping around?"

Thorne coughed uncomfortably and stepped between them. "Ladies, ladies. Let's not fight."

Winter smiled sweetly. "I'm not fighting. Cress is fighting."

Cress threw her hands up. "Both of you just leave me alone."

She stormed out of the café without even taking her drink. There were a few disappointed _ohhh's_ from the crowd. Thorne slid into the seat next to Winter, though, ignoring Jacin's annoyed look. "Winter, darling, can I pick your brain for a moment?"

"My brain is pretty full. It could take a while."

"Even better." He tapped his fingers on the table. "So you live on Cress' floor. Where exactly might that be?"

"Ohh, no!" Jacin cut Winter off. "You are not gonna tell that sleezy man where you live, let alone where Cress lives."

Winter patted Jacin's hand. "You're being rude, dear. I think Thorne is charming. And based on my studies, I think we should be sensitive to the fact that he comes from a different culture and might have a different approach to winning over a woman."

Jacin snorted. "Different approach? You mean an unethical approach?"

Winter sighed. "Fine, I won't tell him where I live." She turned to Thorne. "It is romantic though, to go after her, even if she clearly doesn't like you."

Thorne listed his head. "Like you said, I'm charming. What's not to like?"

"Don't even get me started," said Jacin.

"However," Winter continued, ignoring them both, "you've tried it your way, and it did not work. Grand gestures aren't for everyone."

Thorne tapped his fingers more rapidly. "Women love grand gestures, though."

Jacin snorted again. "Yeah, and that's why yours ran away from you as fast possible."

"I think," Winter said, "what Jacin means to say—and I mean to say—is that since Cress is not responding to your usual manner of flirtation, perhaps it's time to switch it up. Be a bit more respectful of her feelings. I think you embarrassed her.''

"Oh," said Thorne. "That was not my intention. I meant to flatter her."

"Maybe, maybe not, but you should still think about that a bit, okay?"

Thorne nodded and got up from the table. When he came back over to the counter by Cinder, he shook his head at her in disbelief. "But women love me."

Cinder cleared her throat. "Thorne—I'm definitely not one to give love advice—"

"I know," he interrupted her.

"But, I think you should listen to Winter. You went quite overboard with the flattery."

He pouted. "You would have liked that, if Kai had done it."

She thought about it. "Okay, yeah, probably."

"See?"

"Still…think about what Winter said. And Thorne?"

"Yes?"

"Don't compare women to food. It's creepy."

He slunk dejectedly against the counter. "Thanks for the tip."


	5. Chapter 5

"Have you seen Wolf at all?" she asked Thorne, noting the lull in customers since Cress had walked out on him.

Thorne, already back to full confidence and charisma despite the embarrassing rejection, just shrugged. "Not this week. Remember how he had on that strange outfit on Friday?"

"It was endearing, not strange," she said, a need to stick up for him making her voice come out a bit defensive. Even though she thought his outfit had been a bit over the top, she still felt bad for not having noticed whether he'd gotten his happy ending. "Did Scarlet show up?"

"Trust me, I would have noticed if my favorite redhead had made an appearance."

"Even though Kai was here?" she asked.

"Of course. She didn't come in."

"So when did Wolf leave?"

" _That_ I did not notice," he admitted.

Poor Wolf. So Scarlet hadn't come, and his whole outfit with the book and rose accessories had been in vain. He was probably miserable somewhere, just like she was. She had waited anxiously all weekend to talk to Kai about the card. About her. About anything. But it was now almost 7:00 P.M, and Kai hadn't come in yet again.

What was his problem, exactly? He had come in three times a week for two months on the same day, at the same time—on the dot—and just when she got her hopes up with a card _from him_ , he had to go and change things around.

_Men._

No, _boys_. Stupid, stupid, stupid college boys.

No, stupid Cinder.

She was delusional. She was practically in love with a stranger. And why, exactly? Because he smiled at her? Wore some nice outfits? Liked her coffee? How had she let her imagination run away with her so much that she could have possibly thought her fantasies would translate into reality?

Yes, she was a complete idiot. Cinder figured that anyone who used to know her would probably laugh at her if they knew her today. Thorne already laughed at her, sure, but he hadn't known her before she came to college—they were only recent friends. Before college—before the Lunar Café, to be exact—she had made fun of people who fawned over boys for no good reason. Her roommate did that with practically every guy on campus. Cinder had a stepsister, Pearl, who was like that as well. They didn't speak anymore, now that Cinder was officially an adult and her step-mother refused to pay for her college, but the memory of all of her boy crazy squealing lingered ever-present in Cinder's mind.

And now she was exactly the same. Letting her mood be determined by whether or not a guy came in for ten minutes to her work, three times a week. She had actually spent time _crying in the bathroom_ over this boy. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got about her situation.

Who was he, anyway, to have such a hold on her? He could be a jerk. A creep. A stalker. A—well, she couldn't think of exactly everything terrible that he could be, but she knew that she was _so_ over him. Even if her heart told her the exact opposite, she forced her mind to take over.

She didn't need Kai.

She left Thorne to go wipe down some empty tables and before long she was throwing a customer's trash out angrily. Disgusting. Couldn't these people clean up for themselves for once? Couldn't they cut her a break and just let her sit and be heartbroken—no, _irritated_ —about Kai?

Cinder threw up her hands in annoyance. The rag she still held connected with someone she hadn't noticed, and he yelled out as she watched coffee spill down the front of his shirt. Cinder stood there, frozen in horror, as he cursed while coffee dripped from his shirt to the floor. He shook out his hand, also covered in liquid.

"I'm so sorry," she stammered. "I didn't mean—I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." Cinder made to sprint to the napkin holders to help him, but she forgot about the coffee on the floor and slid. Her feet shot out from under her and she toppled backward onto the ground.

Hard.

Cinder's vision blurred with white spots and her back screamed in pain. Beyond mortified and even angrier with herself than ever, she closed her eyes and pretended to be anywhere but here.

"Uh—are you okay?" asked the guy.

Cinder kept her eyes shut. "No."

She felt a hand on her forehead and jerked her eyes open. It was Thorne, squatting over her with the guy, who she thought she vaguely recognized. He'd likely been in the café before, because his piercing eyes complimented his dark skin in a way that made him hard to forget. He was actually pretty good-looking. Probably a senior or recent grad. Her mortification doubled.

"Cinder, can you sit up?" asked Thorne.

She groaned. "No thanks, I'd rather lie here and pretend like I didn't just ruin this customer's night and then make a complete fool out of myself."

The guy chuckled. "I got this."

Thorne still looked at Cinder with concern, but she shut her eyes again. The guy muttered something to him, and Cinder peeked through her eyelids to see that Thorne was indeed walking away. The guy caught her looking after him and she blushed. Why was he still here? Didn't he need to go change or at least get a refund or something? He should be angry. Customers were almost always angry when something went wrong.

He sat down next to her and crossed his legs. She realized that she would probably have to sit up sooner or later, or he would probably report her to Lunar Café management for freaking out the customers. She moved her head, then groaned again. It was throbbing.

"Here, let me help you." Without even asking her permission, the guy reached under Cinder's shoulders with one arm and slid the other arm under her head. He gently pulled her up. The movement made Cinder realize that her entire backside was soaking wet. Perfect.

"Sorry for swearing," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"You're apologizing to me?" she asked incredulously.

"It mostly just surprised me."

"I'll pay for your shirt to be dry-cleaned," she said.

"It's not a problem," he said. "I think it was lucky, in the end."

"How could any of this be lucky?" Her voice dripped with disdain.

"If you hadn't spilled coffee on me, I would have never met you, of course."

Cinder raised an eyebrow. "Are you a friend of Thorne's?"

"Who?"

"Nevermind." Frowning, she pulled on her ponytail and let some of her hair fall down. She tousled it a bit, sure that it looked crazy from her fall, and put it back up in a messy bun.

"That was cute," he remarked.

Cinder stared at him. "What?"

"That move with your hair. I liked it."

"It wasn't for you," she said slowly. "I was just fixing it."

"You should wear your hair down more often. It looks good."

"Thanks…" Cinder flexed her hands, nerves flaring up. Was this guy really flirting with her right now, as they both sat with black liquid all over them?

"Have dinner with me," he said suddenly.

She blanched. "Excuse me?"

A smug look came over his face. "Instead of paying for dry-cleaning, let me pay for your dinner."

Cinder's throbbing head spun. What was going on? Had he lost his mind, along with his clean shirt? "Why?"

"Why not?"

 _Yes, Cinder_ , she thought, _why not indeed_. It's not like she had any plans. It's not like _Kai_ was going to take her to dinner.

"My shift isn't over for at least another hour," she said dumbly.

"We can have a late night snack, then, instead of dinner. There's a diner just around the corner."

"Um, let me just go…make sure I won't have to stay late."

"Absolutely." He reached out his hand to her, and this time she accepted it. He steadied her as she felt more blood rush to her head and the ache in her back intensify. That would need some ice later on. Cinder gingerly walked over to Thorne, who was leaning against the counter, trying to look like he hadn't just been listening to everything they'd said.

"Thorne, I need you to help me with something in the bathroom," she said sweetly through her teeth.

"Cinder, we can't both go in there. First, it'll look strange, and second, no one will be covering the register."

She yanked on his arm. "This will take thirty seconds."

Once out of earshot, Cinder frantically looked at Thorne. "I know you heard everything. What do I do! What do I do!"

A bemused look crossed over Thorne. "What do you do? Are you crazy? You accept his offer graciously and be happy that he's not suing you for spilling coffee all over him!"

"What if he's a serial killer?"

That earned her an eye roll. "You're going to a public place. You don't have to go home with him. In fact, you probably shouldn't. If you're asking me what to do when a guy asks you on a date, I don't even want to know what other questions you'll ask me in other scenarios."

She glared at him. "Would you be serious!"

"I'm always serious."

"Ha-ha-ha. Stop it!"

"The only thing you need to worry about is changing out of those clothes. Don't you usually have a gym bag with you?"

"Sometimes," she admitted. She'd been to the gym earlier, but in reality she'd been too excited to see Kai to focus much in her class. Her clothes shouldn't be very sweaty. Besides, she could hang them up in the bathroom, and anything at this point would be better than having black stains all over her clothes.

The thought of Kai made her set her jaw. The whole reason she had a bruised back and ego was because of him anyway. "Fine, I'll go."

"That's my girl."

"I hate you."

"You'll thank me tomorrow when you have an invitation for another date."

Cinder left the bathroom and saw that the guy was still standing there. "Listen, I think I'll be able to make it. But I can't stay out too late—I have an early class tomorrow."

"No problem," he said, the smug look returning to his face. She wasn't sure what he had to be smug about, but his eyes distracted her a bit from thinking too much about it. He was probably just glad that she'd agreed to go on a date with him. "I'll just go home and get changed, and come back in an hour to get you," he added.

"I'm Cinder, by the way," she said, extending her hand.

He smiled, revealing teeth that looked as though they had just recently been whitened. She was surprised he even drank coffee.

"It's nice to meet you, Cinder. I'm Aimery."


	6. Chapter 6

Michelle's Diner was practically deserted when Cinder and Aimery arrived. It was surprising because it was situated very close to The Lunar Café on a long block of shops and restaurants that catered specifically to college students in town. Normally, when Cinder left work to walk back to her dorm, the sidewalks were full of chatting students. She had therefore expected to find the diner in a similar state. Considering that she didn't get out too much after working and studying, she figured that maybe she had just misjudged the social lives of her fellow students. That, or it was simply an unpopular place.

A waiter greeted them a little too cheerfully. Cinder slid into their booth and picked up a menu.

Aimery took it out of her hands. "I'll order for you."

"I'm perfectly capable of ordering my own food," she said.

He made a "tsk" noise to accompany a bit of a condescending smile that she didn't appreciate. "Have you been here before?"

"No, and that's why I'd like to look at the menu."

"Cinder, my dear, if you haven't been here before then you can't know what the best food is. At Michelle's Diner, you're definitely going to want the egg and tomato sandwich. Trust me on this one. It comes with a side of waffle fries and a secret sauce that is mouth-watering." He closed the menu and gave them to the waiter. "We'll take two portions."

She was a bit annoyed that he wouldn't let her make her own choices, but she supposed that it did sound good, so she let it go. "I'll have an iced tea too, please."

"No coffee?" he asked, staring at her with those eyes that pierced through her now just as they had when she'd first seen him.

"I assume you're joking," she said dryly.

"And here I thought a barista was all about coffee."

"I dream about coffee. Literally. I'm sticking with my iced tea."

The waiter nodded and walked away. Aimery clasped his hands. "So, I like your new outfit."

Cinder glanced down with embarrassment at the gym clothes she'd thrown on and tried to be funny. "What, these old things?"

"You're quite attractive."

"Um—thank you." She tucked a piece of loose hair behind her ear, then quickly put her hand down, remembering his reaction the last time she'd touched her hair. His stare made her feel nervous. Jittery.

"You're not used to being complimented, are you?"

Cinder gulped as she thought about his question. _No, not really,_ was the answer. She didn't want to seem insecure though, or like she'd barely been on a date. She could already imagine Thorne yelling at her later if he were to find out.

"You're used to being direct, aren't you?" she said instead.

He laughed. "I know what I want and I try to be clear about it."

"What do you want?" she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Right now, to eat."

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Oh—right."

The waiter came by with Cinder's iced tea and a water for Aimery, who immediately took a long sip from the straw. "Sorry if I came off too strong. I can tell it made you uncomfortable. I was just trying to be nice, you know, because normally girls like compliments."

"It's okay," she said. "I think I'm just kind of different from most girls."

He winked. "I bet you are." He folded his hands under his chin as he sipped his water and studied her intently. Cinder's level of discomfort elevated and she had to keep herself from squirming in her seat. She was about to say something when he snapped his fingers. "You know, looking at you up close now, I think I've put two and two together. You're Cinder Linh, aren't you?"

"Yes," she said slowly.

"I knew I recognized you! Hard to forget a face like yours."

She brightened. "Have we met? I thought you looked familiar too! You've come into the café before, haven't you?"

He shook his head, "No, that's not it. At first I thought maybe we'd had a class together or something, but then I realized it's because some of the guys talk about you every now and then."

Cinder's eyes widened. "No way! I don't really know that many guys—I mean, guys who would talk about me."

"Well," he said slowly, "there's this one guy in particular. Kai Prince."

Cinder's heart rate picked up speed. "I—wait? You two know each other?"

"As I'm sure you know, Kai's got an obvious crush on you," said Aimery, rolling his eyes knowingly.

"What!" She leaned forward on her own palms to keep herself from collapsing from all the emotions that were trying to escape out of her. She couldn't believe it. Of all the people! Of all the guys! Kai! _Kai talked about her. Kai liked her_. She wasn't crazy!

He stared at her in disbelief. "You mean you didn't know?"

"I mean, I know _him_. A little. But I don't know what he says. You have to tell me."

"Actually—come to think of it, maybe that's not such a good idea. Look, I shouldn't have said anything."

Cinder's heart sank. "Why not?"

Aimery looked suddenly uncomfortable. "Uh—stars, I'm an idiot. I was just so excited about recognizing you, you know? Small world and all that."

"Aimery—what's going on? What are you saying? Or not saying?" She needed information. And she needed it _now_.

"Listen, he definitely has a crush on you. I thought you knew. But if I really think about it, now that you're here in front of me and I know you, it seems really unhealthy, what he's doing."

Her throat was dry. Her mind was racing. Her heart was hammering. "Unhealthy?"

"He talks about you all the time. I mean _all_ the time. From what I've heard, I figured you'd have known about it. It's like you're his ex or something."

"Kai and I never dated," she said quickly.

"Oh," said Aimery. "That's awkward."

"Aimery! I have to know what he says about me. It could impact our…friendship." She hoped she didn't sound as desperate as she felt.

"I just think his crush seems like it's a little bit bordering on obsession, you know? I mean every time he sees you he recounts in exact detail what you guys talked about."

"He does?" Cinder thought about all the times she'd rehashed her conversations with Kai to Thorne, so him talking about her that much wasn't necessarily that bad.

"He saves your cups. The ones on which you wrote his name."

"He—he does?"

"Yeah, he collects them. Like a souvenir from your time together."

She frowned. "Oh. That's…different. Wouldn't they get moldy?"

Aimery laughed. "You'd think so, right? I don't know, Cinder."

"Does he do anything else?"

"It's creepy. I don't want to freak you out."

"Creepier than keeping all my cups?"

"Yeah," he said. "Listen, Cinder, I'm having a really good time with you and want to get to know you more. I don't want to taint your night by just talking about one dude with some problems. I just want to apologize for bringing this up at all. Like I said—"

"Please, Aimery, don't apologize. I'm glad you're telling me what you know. I've gotta look out for myself, right?" He grinned that smug grin again, and she still wasn't quite sure why it bothered her. "Please, tell me. I'd rather know than be in the dark."

"Okay, well, don't say I didn't warn you. He takes photos of you when you're getting his orders ready. In his room there are all these stalker pics of you that he took without your permission. I've heard rumors that not only does he talk to you before he goes to sleep, but he like, _looks_ at your pictures before he goes to sleep, if you get my drift."

Her heart seemed to shrivel with disbelief and disgust. It was so bad. So, so bad. Kai seemed so sweet and pure and charming. Her _Prince_ Charming. But in the end there was nothing princely about him besides his last name. She wanted to cry.

"Hey, Cinder, don't be upset," said Aimery, putting a hand over hers. "You didn't know he was like that. It's not your fault he does that."

"But he shouldn't be doing that. That's invasion of privacy. Or…or voyeurism…or something." Her heart hurt so bad.

"He's just a loser college kid, you know, without that many friends. Maybe he's just lonely. Not that that's an excuse," he added quickly.

The waiter dropped off their food, but Cinder's hunger had disappeared. She wanted to curl into a ball and die. How could she have been so wrong about him?

The door to the diner suddenly burst open, sending a gush of cold wind down Cinder's spine, along with a shiver of nervousness as she saw that it was Kai himself who had entered. His normally beautiful hair was wild and clinging to his brow in sweat. Instead of his usual immaculate wardrobe, he wore a faded gray hoodie that was far too big on him. He rested his hands on his knees, huffing as though he had sprinted here.

Cinder blinked. "Kai?"

His eyes widened in recognition and fear when he saw Cinder, and then narrowed as they settled upon Aimery. "Cinder! I came as quickly I—"

"Well, if it isn't Kai Prince," said Aimery coolly. He wiped his mouth with his napkin before discarding it on the table and proceeded to stand up, arms crossed. "Isn't that just like you, showing up unannounced exactly at the right time. It's so… _creepy._ " Aimery looked pointedly at Cinder as if saying 'told you.' Cinder gulped. It _was_ kind of creepy that Kai knew where they were, especially after everything Aimery had told her about him. It fit the profile exactly. He really was a stalker.

"I heard you were here," said Kai, still breathing heavily. "Torin told me what you were up to."

Aimery turned to Cinder. "Torin is our mutual friend," he explained. He turned back to Kai. "As Cinder already knows, I went home because she accidentally spilled coffee all over me." He held up his hands. "So I told Torin. Can I help it if I'm excited to be out with a beautiful woman?"

A look of pure hatred passed between the two of them, and Cinder began to feel more uncomfortable than ever. What was going on?

"Stop this whole charade, Kai. What you're doing is not cool. Cinder is a person, not an object."

A combination of outrage and disbelief clouded Kai's handsome features. "What _I'm_ doing?" he spluttered. "What _I'm_ doing? Cinder, don't listen to a word he says. He's a liar, that's all."

"I'm a liar?" Aimery's voice matched Kai's expression. "Don't shoot the messenger, Kai. You're the one who clearly has a problem."

"Is it true, Kai?" asked Cinder quietly.

He softened. "Is what true?"

"Do you save my cups? Do you take pictures of me and hang them up in your dorm?"

Kai faltered. "Cinder, no! I can take you back to my room and show you—"

" _Oh_ ," Aimery interrupted him. He smirked. "You'll take her back to your room will you? Such a gentleman, aren't you?"

"Aimery—that's _not_ what I meant—shut up—"

"How dare you try to take advantage of Cinder!" said Aimery, taking a step closer to her. Cinder remained frozen, unable to comprehend the situation. "And while she's on a date with another man!"

"You're—?" Kai paused and looked desperately at Cinder. "You're on a _date_ with him? With _Aimery_? Cinder he's just using you!"

Cinder reddened. "I—I don't know what's going on here, but yes, he asked me on a date. Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Exactly," said Aimery. "Cinder and I just met. I asked her to dinner."

"Let's take this outside, Aimery," said Kai through clenched teeth, his face a stone mask. "I have some words to say to you that I'd prefer not to speak in front of a lady."

"No!" said Cinder. " _What is going on_?"

"Yes, Kai," said Aimery. "What _is_ going on? You claim I'm a liar, but I believe you'll find I'm merely stating fact."

"You're the biggest liar I've ever known. Don't listen to him, Cinder."

"So you deny it. You don't like Cinder."

Kai's expression turned helpless, tortured. He took a few breaths and collected himself. "I—well, no, I mean yes, I _do_ like her," he stammered. His whole face had gone red. His ears were an even darker shade. "Yes, Cinder, I like you. This isn't exactly how I imagined you'd find out, but yes, I've liked you for a while."

"Who's the liar now?" said Aimery, then snickered. "Isn't he pathetic, Cinder?"

Kai stared at her helplessly, as if waiting for her to acknowledge what he'd said. When she didn't say anything, his expression became apologetic. Aimery looked borderline gleeful.

"I have to go home," she said. If she stayed any longer, the two of them would witness her oncoming tears. As she jumped up, she almost collided with Kai, who tried to stop her, but she dodged him and bolted out the door as quickly as possible.


	7. Chapter 7

Cinder absentmindedly filled drinks throughout the first two hours of her shift, void of any emotion. She'd spent the last four days feigning sickness so that she wouldn't have to go to work or school and face the possibility of seeing Kai or Aimery again. After going through every emotion possible over the course of those four days, she'd finally reached a point of having no energy left to feel anything anymore. She'd finally taken a much needed shower, eaten more than just the leftover food in her dorm fridge, and finally started making up all the homework she'd missed.

Once back in society, she'd sucked it up and come back to work. Admittedly, she'd had a slight panic attack when 5:45 P.M. came and went. Luckily, Kai didn't stop by for his white chocolate mocha today, though, and she went back to not caring. Thorne tried several times to figure out how her date had been, but she kept blowing him off, telling him that it had been a bust and she didn't want to talk about it, okay? Thorne had been fine with instead talking about a dance that he'd been to recently and noted some of the many cultural differences of American women dancing. Apparently, those differences had brightened his dancing experience. Cinder tried to imagine Thorne dancing with a bunch of undergraduate students, and even managed a laugh. She found it hard to imagine that other graduate students could take him seriously.

Still, a part of her was happy to be back into routine, and she was glad to count Thorne as a friend. Several times throughout her four days of isolation had she wondered whether or not she should have just called _him_ after the whole Aimery-Kai spiel, but she hadn't been able to bear it. He wouldn't understand. Women and dating somehow came easy to him. He probably didn't have a creepy stalker nor someone who seemed to enjoy _goading_ that creepy stalker.

Mad that she was losing her grip on her determination to remain emotionless, Cinder decided to take a break, and she went to say hi to Winter, who had surprisingly looked up from her books when Cinder had come in earlier today. She'd even commented on Cinder being gone and having missed her. She was really just such a sweetheart, and Cinder thought that maybe she might be a good person to talk to, since she was probably the sanest one in all of the Lunar Café.

"Mind if I join?" she asked, feeling slightly bad for interrupting her studies.

Winter looked up as if she hadn't even noticed that anyone else was even in the café. "Oh, Cinder, hi. Sure."

"Where's Jacin today?"

"Jacin?"

"Your boyfriend?"

"Oh, right." She laughed whimsically, and finally closed her book. "Sorry, I was caught up in a really interesting theory." She checked her watch. "He usually picks me up around eight, so he'll probably be here soon. Sometimes he doesn't have time to come in, though."

"How long have you been together?" asked Cinder.

Winter scrunched up her face. "Oh, a long time. Jacin is better with those kinds of details than I am. A little more than four years now. We're high school sweethearts."

Cinder smiled, though it was a little jealously. "That's so romantic."

Winter smiled too. "Jacin is the definition of romantic. He's kind of perfect."

"I've noticed."

"What's going on with you and Kai?"

Cinder stiffened. "What do you mean?"

"You two are always staring at each other with such longing whenever he comes in here. I thought you were a couple at first."

"Kai comes in for maybe five minutes, three times a week." She blushed, realizing that she was admitting to another customer that she'd memorized Kai's habits. "How would you even notice if he was staring at me? You're always so absorbed with your work."

Winter's lips curled a little deviously. "Certain things interest me more than my books sometimes."

Cinder leaned her chin on her fist and tried to look neutral. "Have you ever noticed Kai taking any pictures of me?"

"No."

"Oh, okay."

The door chimed and another customer came in, but Cinder decided not to get up or even acknowledge the fact that she'd heard the door. With her back facing the majority of the café, she was happy to let Thorne take care of this customer. Winter's eyes widened however, and she clasped her hands together, making Cinder whirl around in her chair immediately.

Scarlet was at the counter, chatting up an amused looking Thorne. Cinder wanted to turn to Winter and smile along with her, but instead her eyes swept the room until they landed on Wolf. He was sitting up straighter, holding his newspaper, and Cinder realized that this was _exactly_ the type of drama she needed at this moment to distract her. If he could just admit his feelings, then maybe he could finally have someone join him at his lonely table. But he hadn't been back since Valentine's Day—had he moved on?

Wolf remained in his spot, though, to Cinder's great disappointment. A terrible thought then occurred to her. What if Wolf was a stalker, just like Kai? She had thought him sitting there all the time just waiting for Scarlet had been romantic, but albeit borderline creepy. Now that she knew a bit more about how stalkers operated, she felt bad for wanting to cheer him on. Since he didn't make a move, though, Cinder turned her attention back to Scarlet and Thorne. They were both laughing. Her eyes flitted back to Wolf. He looked tortured.

"Why won't he do anything?" she whispered to Winter.

"Scarlet is an intimidating woman!" said Winter, not too quietly.

After Thorne took her order and Scarlet had paid, Scarlet moved to the pick-up counter to wait for her drink. She turned, as usual, to survey the room. Her gaze finally landed on Wolf. This time, he didn't dive behind his newspaper like he normally did. She raised her chin in response, but kept her eyes locked with his. He didn't flinch or look away. He stared her down.

Blood rushed up in Cinder's face, the intensity of the two of them making her feel as though _she_ were the one participating in a very intimate staring contest. She wanted to look elsewhere, but she realized that the entire café had fallen silent. Everyone watched as Wolf and Scarlet built and built tension with just their eyes. Scarlet's body language was beckoning. She ignored Thorne as he quietly set down her finished drink beside her.

Wolf discarded his newspaper—no, he threw it down on the table—as he jumped up. Without breaking eye contact, he took a deep breath and closed the distance between the two of them almost instantly. They stood then, facing each other, still silent as heat practically rose off of their bodies. Cinder heard Winter begin to make incomprehensible squeals, and she reached out to grab her hand.

Wolf pushed his fingers into Scarlet's fiery curls before he connected his lips with hers and dipped her. Scarlet's hands wrapped around his neck and she kissed him back furiously.

The entire café was in an uproar. Cinder found herself clapping along with them. She saw Thorne behind the kissing couple, and he winked back at her. She knew that maybe she should be sad or even jealous that she didn't have any prospects anymore for a kiss like that, but the whole scene had given her a renewed sense of joy instead.

She was going to be okay.


	8. Chapter 8

At the start of Cinder's next shift, a bouquet of white roses arrived at the The Lunar Café. They weren't addressed to anyone, and the man from the flower shop was confused about whom to give the delivery. Thorne signed off on it, making a joking display to the whole café about how he was so desirable that he even got sent roses by an anonymous admirer. No one paid him much attention though, least of all Cinder., though she was able to crack a smile.

He immediately passed the flowers to Cinder once he had undone the wrapping. "They're clearly for you," he said slyly.

Cinder took the bouquet from him gingerly. "Me? Why would you ever think that?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Thorne. "Maybe because you're the only female working here tonight."

She set the bouquet down near her gym bag before she crossed her arms. "Men can receive flowers too."

"Sure they can," he said, shrugging, "but it's much less likely. You were the one who was on a date the other day. Besides, white roses aren't my thing. Anyone who knows me would know that."

"Do you know something I don't?" she asked.

"I wish," he said, slouching over the counter. "No one tells me anything."

Cinder still hadn't told him about Aimery and Kai yet, and after deciding she could use all the friends she could get, she finally caved in and told him the story. Thorne listened to her recount the evening and managed to interrupt her seven times, which normally would have annoyed her, but she was glad to at least be confiding in _someone_. Thorne was the only one she knew who had actually met both of the men she was talking about. When she was done, Thorne frowned and opened his mouth, but a customer came in so he turned his attention elsewhere.

Cinder went back to admire the roses, wondering if they really could be for her—and if she even wanted them to be—and noticed that Thorne hadn't thrown the wrapping away very effectively. The red plastic and tissue paper hung over the trash with the ribbons still attached. She picked it up and scrunched it together, only to feel something hard bend beneath her hands. She undid the ball of paper and plastic she'd created and noticed a small note card inside, white and bent. Heart beating quicker, she tossed the rest of the tissue paper away and flattened out the card, which bore the flower shop's logo on the top right corner and a single, large letter in the middle:

_I_

"I?" Cinder scanned the Lunar Café, trying to think of anyone so far whose name she had scribbled on a cup that might start with the letter I. Then she tried to think of names that began with the letter I in general. She couldn't think of many. Finally, she made a few rounds to privately ask the customers if their names started with I, because the bouquet of roses might belong to them. Some of them looked at her strangely, but no one claimed the flowers. She went back to the counter.

"I think something's up with that Aimery guy," said Thorne during a lull in customers. "Kai is cool."

"Kai is cool? Kai is _cool_?" Cinder huffed. "First of all, you encouraged me to go out with Aimery. Second of all, Kai might be a stalker."

"He got you that card, though. If he were really a stalker, don't you think it would have been a super creepy card?"

"I don't know," she said, miffed. "It's not like I have an expertise with that."

Thorne laughed and gave her a light punch on the arm. "Well, I'm rooting for Kai."

Cinder was trying to think of a smart remark when the bell rang, and they looked up to see another delivery person enter their cafe, but he had no flowers in his arms like the last one, just a small box and a clipboard. Cinder signed this time and tore one corner off of the packaging before Thorne let out a yell and grabbed the box away from her.

"This one is definitely for me," he said greedily, ripping off the rest of the paper.

She tried to shove him out of the way but he wouldn't yield the box, so they both just stared down in hunger as an incredibly familiar and intoxicating smell reached their nostrils. It was an assorted box of the best truffles from Campus Chocolate, a well-known sweet shop that specialized in every type of original chocolate creation imaginable. It was expensive, though, and Cinder had only been able to go there a few times.

Thorne yanked off the lid and grabbed for a truffle before closing his eyes in delight. "Mmmm."

As he continued to chew and moan, she took the opportunity to snatch the box back from him and inspect it—after taking two truffles of her own, of course. This box also contained a small card taped to the bottom of the box. It matched the colors of Campus Chocolate logo, and in the middle this time were two letters:

_AM_

Though tempted, she decided to be selfish along with Thorne and not go around asking if those were anyone's initials. They both devoured the truffles. Whoever was sending the Lunar Café employees this treat could keep it coming.

And it did; not more than a half hour later, a college student showed up in the café with another box, this time heart-shaped. He extended it to Cinder after ordering just a cookie from their own small—and somewhat pathetic—dessert display. "For an employee of the Lunar Café," he said, smiling pleasantly.

"Which one?" asked Cinder, beckoning between her and Thorne.

The guy raised his hands and made a bewildered face. "How should I know? I just got paid to bring this here. Smells good, from what I can tell."

"Who gave this to you?" asked Thorne.

The guy took a bite of his cookie and grinned. "That information earned me extra cash. But I would be willing to negotiate if you could make me a better deal." Thorne raised his eyebrow and the guy smirked. "Didn't think so. Enjoy!"

As he walked out, Cinder and Thorne exchanged a glance and then barely hesitated before opening the newest delivery. Their anonymous well-wisher had really outdone himself, even after the Campus Chocolate truffles. Chocolate-covered strawberries winked up at them this time, lining the box perfectly. For the strawberries at the edge of the box, decorated atop the chocolate covers were little white icing hearts and dots. Written across the middle strawberries in big white icing writing was:

_SO_

"SO? S.O.? Soooo?" said Thorne, staring at it. Then he took a strawberry right from the middle, effectively breaking part of the letter S in two.

Her mouth watered at the strawberries, and she was glad that she was still pretty full from the truffles, or she would have devoured these treats as well. But staring that box was giving her a bit of a warm fuzzy feeling, and she was getting the distinct impression that these presents really _were_ for her. Flowers, chocolates, strawberries. All romantic gestures that were, admittedly, usually given more to girls than boys. But who was the sender? Did she even want to entertain that thought? She could think of two boys who might want to give her a romantic gift—and the idea of two possible suitors at once was strange enough on its own—but she wasn't sure anymore how she felt about either of those boys. It was a dangerous slope for her mind to slip down, especially after how much better she'd been feeling in the past few days.

" _Fantastico_ ," said Thorne. "You have to try these, Cinder!" He held out a strawberry to her, and she took it, glad for a distraction from contemplating the mystery admirer. She joined him in eating, letting her mind find refuge in the delectable taste. The Lunar Cafe would really benefit from having these types of sweets around. She would likely gain twenty pounds as well, but not having to rely on only coffee, bagels, donuts, and other 'easy' desserts during their shifts would certainly improve her mood as she worked. Thorne on the other hand, who could eat enormous quantities of any type of food and practically lose weight, would only benefit from such an addition.

The bell rang again, and Cinder actually groaned, wondering if her stomach could take any more food or surprises. But it wasn't another delivery person or customer.

It was Kai.

She momentarily forgot that she was supposed to be mad at him. Perfectly tousled hair, eyes that matched the color of the chocolate they had just eaten, and a warm but slightly sheepish smile across his face greeted her. Cinder could hardly keep from melting. In his arms, Kai carried the next item for delivery. A stuffed gray bear with a heart attached to its paws, upon which were written five letters this time:

_SORRY_


	9. Chapter 9

The café around her disappeared as Cinder met Kai's gaze. He was staring at her—really staring. And she was finally daring to stare back. Maybe it wasn't even bravery. He was just too captivating, the way his eyes were apologetic but full of conviction and a touch of smoldering fire. How could she not stare back? _Kai_ had gotten her the presents. _Kai_ had planned romantic surprises for her. _Kai_ was here, in person, asking her forgiveness. And he was still staring at her.

A drawling, overly sappy voice made Cinder blink. "Awww, _Kai-aiii_ ," said Thorne.

His Italian accent normally made him sound somewhat sing-songy, but she knew that this time he was overdoing his intonation on purpose. She shot him a glare, but she was glad to have an excuse to look away from Kai. If she kept staring at him, she would probably seem desperate, rather than someone who had every reason to be distrustful of him. She tried to make her face look neutral. It was not easy.

"Kai, my man!" said Thorne. "I've been eating incredible desserts the whole shift. Is it you who I must thank, then?"

Kai looked away from Cinder for a brief second. "Hey, Thorne." His eye shifted back to hers. Then he was walking slowly, one hand still gripping the bear, and within a few strides was standing within arm's length of Cinder. She silently thanked the counter for its ability to separate the two of them.

"Hi Cinder."

Unwilling to become the flustering idiot that she normally turned into around him, Cinder took a deep breath and lifted her chin. "Kai."

"Can I take your order?" said Thorne, still standing next to Cinder and smiling far too widely for her liking.

"No," said Kai. "I'm requesting Cinder today."

Thorne cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, well then…he's all yours, Cinder." Thorne bowed and stepped back. To her dismay, he didn't move away much, though.

Cinder cleared her thoughts. It was Kai, and he had just showered her with gifts, but she was working, and he was just another customer. "White chocolate mocha?" she asked.

He set the bear on the counter. "No."

Cinder pressed her lips. "What will you have today?"

"That depends," he said. "I'm still trying to decide what I can afford."

She closed her eyes for a minute. This was just another customer. Just another customer. She pointed behind her. "Prices are all up on the board."

"How much is a conversation?"

"I—what?"

"Or if that's too expensive, how about just a one-way conversation?"

Cinder stared at him. "A…one-way conversation?"

"Yes," he said, sliding the bear across the counter until his hand was barely inches from her own. "If you're not up for talking to me, I'll understand, but at least give me the chance to talk to you. That night at the diner was"—his grip tightened on the bear—"horrible. I want to explain." When she hesitated, he withdrew his hand and stuffed it into his pocket instead. "Please."

"I'm working," she said.

"I think you're due for a break soon," said Thorne behind her.

They shared a conspiratorial look before Kai's features relaxed. "Great."

She folded her arms. "You're holding up the line."

"Ah." He glanced over his shoulder. "The white chocolate mochas she makes are great," he commented, his voice light. The customer behind him raised an eyebrow, and Kai turned back to Cinder. "Will I see you on your break?"

"Can you just say yes?" asked the person behind him.

"Thorne," she said pointedly, "could you please take care of this gentleman?" She shifted to the other register and beckoned the next customer to come forward. Luckily, Kai didn't protest and moved in front of Thorne's.

Concentrating on her work, Cinder let a hundred different thoughts crowd her already busy mind. A month or two ago, this was all she would have wanted from Kai. But things had changed. She was strong and independent and not a sucker for this type of stuff, and…who was she kidding? All she was doing was trying to eavesdrop on Thorne and Kai's conversation, though she could mostly only make out Thorne's familiar drawl. Bits of his half of the conversation included "twenty minutes" and "…conversation not a kiss?"

Kai ended up ordering something from Thorne after all, and soon he meandered over to an empty table. She was worried that he would stare at her and cause her to probably spill every order until her break, but he just took out his phone and began to scroll through it, sipping his drink every now and then. It was Thorne who began making little kissy faces at her every time she glanced at him, so Cinder decided to look down for the remainder of her time. She welcomed the monotony of her job at the moment and continued trying to sort out her thoughts.

When the time came to take a break, Cinder slid off her apron and hung it on the wall hook. She disappeared into the bathroom and looked at herself again. Nothing much had changed in her appearance since she'd first met him, but at least she didn't have any coffee grinds on her today. Her ponytail still in its usual scrunchie, Cinder considered letting her hair down. Aimery had said she looked better like that. But Aimery was the reason she was in this whole mess to start out with, so maybe she shouldn't be heeding his advice. Besides, she was just going on a break for twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes.

How long would it take Kai to explain? And what would he say? Would he just apologize for getting caught as a stalker? Would he make something up to appease her in order to save face? Would he even admit that he liked her? _Did_ he like her? Her insecurities told her that no, he would never like her. But the thought that he had put into today's gifts coupled with the way he'd stared at her told her otherwise.

She left the bathroom and walked gingerly toward his table. He was still engrossed in his phone, so she slid hesitantly into the seat across from him.

Kai nearly dropped his phone. "Hey!" he said, the smile that made her melt lighting up his features.

"Hi," she said quietly.

Kai stashed his phone and ran a hand through his hair. "Hi," he said again. She noticed that his ears had turned a light shade of pink. "Thanks for agreeing to take your break with me."

"You…sort of forced me," she said.

His ears turned a darker shade. "You're probably afraid of me, aren't you?" She stayed silent. He nodded. "Understandable. Well I'll try to make this as painless as possible for you."

He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Thorne, who stood over the two of them with a wicked smirk. "Can I get either of you a refill?"

"Go away, Thorne."

Kai laughed. "I have to agree with Cinder."

"I'll be able to hear everything anyway," he muttered as he shuffled away.

Cinder turned back to Kai, who was staring at her intently. "I like you, Cinder."

Cinder, speechless at how direct he was being, slid a hand onto her pant leg and pinched her thigh.

"Aimery wasn't wrong about everything," he continued. "I've liked you pretty much since I walked into the Lunar Café a few months ago." He paused. "Please don't think I'm shallow for this, because I know— _I know_ that we barely know each other, but I was just caught off guard by how pretty you were the first time I saw you. I don't know if you ever just get that _feeling_ about someone, but I had it about you. I wanted to know more about you from the moment I laid eyes on you."

She was sure she was blushing now too.

"I came in a few days and realized that you were always here at 5:45 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and it was perfect because it was right during an hour long break so I had time to come here before going to my night class. Well, I guess I don't have class on Fridays, but I still knew you'd be here, so I came anyway." He looked down at his hands, inspecting his nails. "I'm sorry if that's creepy." He continued looking down. "I know it might seem that way, especially after everything that Aimery said."

"It was innocent though, I promise. I just wanted to come to the café on days that you were here and hope to maybe build up the courage to talk to you more than I normally did, and maybe even ask you out sometime."

Cinder bit her lip. "You…wanted to ask me out?"

"Yes!" he said. "Very much so. I just didn't think you'd ever say yes, because I _did_ think it was kind of creepy to hit on you after only having met you, and I figured you already get a lot of suitors that come in here and do the same thing."

It was the most false statement about her life that he could have said, but Cinder didn't do anything to correct it. He didn't need to know that barely anyone had ever shown an interest in her.

"But what about…everything else that Aimery said?" she asked.

"Ah, the pictures." He smiled bitterly. "And everything else. What you should know is that Aimery and I have a history. We were roommates freshman year, but it ended badly because I ratted him out for doing some illegal things and he nearly got expelled. Since then, he's been on a vendetta to ruin my life. I promise, what he said wasn't true. You can—you can ask around, Cinder. Ask anyone. I don't care. I can give you a list of everyone I know or—or you can just find people on your own that know about me. I'm a pretty well-known guy. Many of them have been in my room too."

Cinder tried to imagine herself interviewing people about Kai, but the thought was bizarre to her. So was the entire conversation. "But Aimery—if you're not friends, how would he even know about me?"

Kai nodded briskly. "It was a mistake. I was leaving the café one day, and I…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "Stars, talk about embarrassing. Well, I was smiling like an idiot, if you must know." Cinder tried to suppress a grin, remembering all the times she'd smiled like a fool after Kai had left. He caught the beginning of her smile, though, and seemed slightly relieved. "Anyway," he rushed on, "Aimery saw me leaving and smiling, and since we were roommates at first, well, he knows my tastes in women and unfortunately also my reactions to them. I saw him go into the café and knew he'd figure it out."

His face became grim. "I came back the next Monday and he was there waiting for me, outside the café. You probably didn't even notice but I stopped coming for a while, thinking that he'd be thrown off if I didn't have a pattern or didn't make it seem like I went there frequently. But I guess he figured out that I liked you anyway. Torin told me last week that he'd asked you out and I knew he was just doing it to spite me." Kai's eyes suddenly widened and he held up his hands. "Wait—I don't mean that you're not worthy of being asked out. Please don't misunderstand me. I just know Aimery, and I know firsthand that where he goes he causes destruction. And in this case, it wasn't just me that he was out to destroy, but also you. So he…so he could get to me."

"He didn't destroy me," said Cinder.

"Good," said Kai. "That's a relief."

"I was…confused, though. And worried. And maybe a little hurt," she added.

"Makes sense," he said. "If I had just told you about my feelings we probably could have avoided all of this. And now you're not sure who to listen to or what to believe."

"Um," said Cinder.

"I have one more thing to give you," he said. A wisp of his black hair fell in front of his eyes as he leaned closer to her. "It's not as interesting as the other presents, but I hope that you'll take it anyway." He handled her a folded piece of paper. "This is my number." Cinder took it, and the electricity that went through her arm as her fingers brushed his for just a second took her by force. "I'd ask for yours," he said, "but I don't want to be presumptuous after everything's that happened. I'd love to get to know you better. Think about what I said and feel free to talk to other people about what I'm like. I promise I'm a good guy. If you…decide that you'd like to get to know me better too…well, let's just say I'll be waiting by my phone."

He nodded, looked down at his hands again, and then pushed himself away from the table. She wanted to say something to him but heart was tangled with her throat, her mind processing and whirring like a computer. His eyes were almost fearful as he looked at her one last time. "I'm sincerely sorry for any pain or confusion I may have caused you. Have—have a great night, Cinder."

Then he walked out, the piece of paper with his number practically burning a hole in Cinder's fist.


	10. Chapter 10

"She doesn't despise you anymore."

Thorne regarded Winter almost suspiciously, brow wrinkled. "Despise is a bit strong for a word, don't you think?"

"Ha," said Cinder, running the frother a few extra times in Winter's drink. "Despise is too mild of a word for your situation."

"It's impossible to hate me," said Thorne, now folding his arms in a show of concern.

"Trust me, it was hate," said Cinder.

Winter, for once out of her chair and even ordering something new, looked dreamily between the two of them, as if she knew something they didn't. Cinder couldn't figure out why talking about someone despising Thorne made her practically giddy, but interacting with her in the Lunar Café had showed her that nothing could make Winter angry or upset. Perhaps she was just in her usual mind space—wherever that was.

"But the point is that Cress has moved beyond that now. I've given her some more cultural theories to study. I have to admit she's not terribly interested in them, but she's at least reconsidering her harsh words."

"Words he deserved," muttered Cinder.

Thorne shook his head. "No, no, no. I don't want her to go out with me because of my _culture_. I get enough of that already."

"Yeah, yeah, we know," said Cinder, "you're such a good-looking Italian."

Winter smiled sweetly. "Thorne _is_ pleasant-looking."

"Don't encourage him!"

"I don't need encouragement," he said. "I need tips on how to get this girl."

"Notice your vocabulary," said Winter. " _Get this girl_." She clucked her tongue and looked sympathetically at Cinder. She handed Winter the now-finished drink.

"I heard your speech the first time," said Thorne. "I'm going to be wonderfully sensitive and tactful the next time I see my true love."

"You don't even know her!" said Cinder.

"I'm confident that I will."

Winter reached out to pat Thorne's arm. "Perhaps."

"I don't know why you're giving me lectures, Cinder," said Thorne. "When you clearly have no idea how to respond to someone with tact."

"I do too!" she huffed.

"What's going on?" asked Winter.

Cinder shook her head. "No, not here. Not now."

"Get it together, Cinder! The man apologized profusely with gifts and treats—that were delicious, I might add—and came in here looking like a puppy dog, wagging his injured, heartbroken, little tail."

Cinder dug her fingers into the counter. Thorne was unbelievable. She was doomed to have her entire private life—or whatever it was—exposed to every customer on her work rotation, wasn't she? In fact, if she ever ended up calling Kai, she would tell him just how inappropriate it was to do romantic displays of affection while she was on the job. Most of the people she served coffee to went to her college. They could show up in her classes next year, in the after-school clubs she never felt like joining anyway but might someday make an appearance in, or…or…somewhere! Rumors spread quickly at her school. She did not want to be the blunt of anyone's joke or the topic of anyone's gossip. Though, admittedly, she was surprised she hadn't heard anything yet about the Aimery-Kai fiasco. Surely, if Aimery were as bad as Kai had said, then he would have let everyone know how much he had humiliated Kai. And Cinder too. Right?

"Kai?" asked Winter, releasing the name from her lips through a slight giggle.

"Yes, Kai," said Thorne. "She won't call him back."

"I'm thinking of it," said Cinder. "These things require time…processing…" She fumbled for more words to explain herself. " _Time_."

"It's a two-second decision," said Thorne."

"Love is like the wind," said Winter.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It blows around and destroys the very infrastructure of your soul," Thorne whispered.

Winter frowned. "No. It means that it does what it wishes and we can't control it. You have to follow the wind."

"Is that a quote from Pocahontas?" asked Cinder.

"What's that?" asked Winter.

"Disney," Thorne and Cinder chorused.

Winter sighed contentedly. "Ah. I haven't had much time to watch movies like that. My step-mother didn't approve of them growing up, and Jacin, well…he's more of the action movie type. I don't mind, though. I just want him to be happy."

"Gag," said Thorne.

"How do you even know that word?" asked Cinder.

"It's an important word for people in the culinary profession."

"You're going to be a lawyer."

"Another profession that requires an arsenal of words."

Winter clapped her hands. "Oh! How wonderful! Are you thinking of working in human rights perhaps?"

Thorne stared at her before rolling his eyes into the back of his head with laughter. "You're a real hoot, Winter."

"I don't think she was joking," said Cinder. Winter was still standing there with a bright smile on her face.

"You're serious?" asked Thorne.

"I'm always serious," said Winter.

He gaped. "But there's no money in that at all."

"Gee," said Cinder. "Maybe some of us are looking to change the world rather than just make money."

Winter nodded even as Thorne held up his hands. "I want to be independent from my family. Why do you think I came to America to study?"

"Because you enjoy school?"

"Absolutely not," said Thorne. Winter's smile was faltering, suddenly, and Cinder had the urge to reach out and comfort her—to protect her naïve little self from Thorne's words. "You don't need school," he continued. "It's just a tool to get you a job. And once I have a job that pays well enough, I can move far, far away from my family. Winter, surely as a psychology major you can understand a man's need to be independent."

Winter brightened again. "Maybe when you're independent, you can be a good type of lawyer." She turned to Cinder. "But you're not off the hook."

"I'm not—"

The bell rang and the three of them looked expectantly at the door. It had been an unusually calm evening. They turned back to each other quickly as Wolf and Scarlet strode through the door, holding hands. Cinder, however, peeked over Winter's dark, curly locks and saw how much he was grinning. All those days that he had sat waiting to make his move, and it had heaped big rewards—even if his Valentine's Day surprise had been a disaster. Maybe some disasters brought good in the end. Maybe hers could too.

"Yeah, okay, maybe I should call him," she whispered.

Winter squealed—literally squealed. In fact, she clapped her hands and jumped up and down.

"Shhhh!" said Cinder.

"Who cares at this point?" said Thorne. "It's not like there's anyone in this café right now who doesn't know you're madly in love with Kai."

Winter jumped a little less. "You shouldn't throw the word love around, Thorne."

He shrugged.

Cinder put her hand into her pocket and pulled out the crinkly piece of paper she'd been carrying around for four days. She had considered leaving it at home or putting it in her backpack, but she was deathly afraid that she would lose it or that it would go missing if she took it off her person. Plus, if she ever made the spontaneous decision to call him—like now—she didn't want to chicken out because she didn't have his number with her at the moment.

She stared at it.

_448-59—_

Thorne ripped the paper out of her hands. "You're really going to do it?" He was full of glee, and knowing him, his tone of voice was probably his version of Winter's squealing.

"Give me the paper back before I change my mind."

Thorne kept it in his fist. "You don't have a cell phone?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then you should put the number in your phone, Cinder, like a normal person."

"He has a point," said Winter thoughtfully. "What if you lost it?"

"That's exactly why—"

"Or what if you spilled something on it?" said Thorne, waving the paper over his carton coffee cup before bringing it back into his fist.

"Just give it back."

"It must not really be that important," joked Thorne, letting the paper fall from his hands, "if anyone could just drop it on the ground where people could step on it."

The paper floated to the ground and Cinder and Thorne both dove for it at the same time, Thorne laughing and Cinder flushing red. Thorne snatched it up first and she struggled against him.

"How much do you _really_ want to call Kai?" said Thorne. "Prove your worth."

"Stop," shrieked Winter, but it was too late. Cinder's elbow had shot out to snake behind Thorne's forearm and hit Thorne's coffee cup.

Horrified, the three of them watched in slow motion as the coffee splashed out of the container and onto Cinder and Thorne.

Onto the paper.

Onto Kai's number.

"Burning! Burning! Burning!" Thorne yelled, shaking the coffee off of him. He backed away from the counter, away from Cinder, the soggy paper in his hand dripping as he cursed about the hot coffee.

Cinder, ignoring the coffee on her, grabbed a rag from behind her and held it under the paper. Thorne finally dropped it on top.

"Oh dear," said Winter. "Can you still read it?"

"You're worried about the paper while I'm over here with third degree burns?"

Cinder's glare shut up any more complaining on his part. She dabbed at the paper, but it was no use.

"It's ruined," she said. "Look."

She handed the towel with the paper to Winter. She inspected every angle. "It looks like a 4 and 0 and maybe a…5? Or 6? The ink is too smeared to tell."

"I know."

"If you'd saved the number in your phone we wouldn't be in this situation," said Thorne defensively.

"If you hadn't—"

He held up his hands. "I know. I'm sorry."

Cinder shrank against the counter. What on Earth was she going to do now?

Maybe—maybe this was a sign from the stars that she was never supposed to call him back.


	11. Chapter 11

When she arrived at work for her next shift, she didn't notice it immediately. Some customers stared curiously at the dessert display, but she didn't make anything of it until one of them asked her if it was a game. Perplexed by him pointing more specifically at the middle row, Cinder frowned when she saw a cut-out piece of white cardboard blocking nearly half of the window pane. How had she not noticed that before? Informing the customer that no, there was no game—whatever that meant—she rounded the counter until what she saw made her freeze on the spot.

It was, indeed, a piece of white cardboard that had been cut into a sloppy, square sign. In scribbly, uppercase, familiar handwriting, it said:

**I SPY PIE (only $1.99!)**   
**BUT DO YOU SPY KAI?**

In small, barely distinguishable writing at the bottom, it said: _Contact Thorne to win this pie!_

Cinder stared in disbelief. "What is that sign?"

The customer shrugged. "You're the one who works here."

"Sorry," said Cinder quickly. "That question wasn't directed at you." She pulled nervously on her ponytail. "I believe my colleague is just…looking for someone."

The customer nodded and leaned forward to inspect the display as Cinder hurried back behind it in order to remove the sign. "$1.99 for pie sounds like a good deal anyway. I'll take it."

"Certainly." Cinder hastily wrapped up a slice, put it in the standard Lunar Cafe dessert box, stuffed in extra napkins, and rang him up. She pushed out any thoughts about Kai until the customer was gone and she held the offending object in both her hands.

Thorne, slyly grinning by the drive-thru register, saluted her. "Great idea, am I right?"

"Thorne." She took a deep breath, steadying herself. "What do you think this is supposed to be?" She shook the sign at him, her pent-up frustration at him seeping into the cardboard. After he had ruined Kai's note and caused her to lose his number, she had not panicked. She had not even yelled at him. She kept it bottled in, like she tended to do, and tried to logically rationalize how she would contact him.

She knew his last name (Prince) and the name of his sister (Iko). She also knew that he had a friend named Torin. How hard could it be to track him down with information like that at a university of 40,000 people? Probably nearly impossible, she'd decided. She'd had some ideas that involved quite a bit of stalking and breaking some FERPA laws, but nothing that was convincing enough to begin her search yet. She needed time to think things through—which was obviously what she was doing now. That, and resisting the urge to throttle the Italian in front of her.

If only she had bothered to take him up on learning some swear words in his language.

"It's a catchy rhyme to help us locate your lost lover," said Thorne.

Ignoring the tingle of anticipation that the word _lover_ brought to her spine, she narrowed her eyes at him. "Those are the dumbest two lines I've ever seen strung together."

"Well _ex-cuse_ me!" he drawled. "Poetry is hard in a foreign language."

She tore the sign in half; she would not have people asking about Kai all day or she would probably lose her mind. Noticing that some people in the cafe were staring at them, she closed her eyes to center herself with calm thoughts. When she opened them, Thorne still stood there, smiling. Her own voice was barely a whisper. "And what makes you think that I need a _sign_ to find Kai? How would you even know if I haven't already contacted him?"

"Oh, Cinder. You act tough but you're really transparent."

"And you're an idiot."

"Let's hear your great idea of how to find him, then?" When she hesitated, he added, "One that doesn't involve putting up signs."

"I'll figure it out, Thorne. Just give it a rest. Don't you think you've done enough damage already?"

Thorne's shoulders finally slumped—but only a little. He took one of the cleaning rags and wrung it around his hands. "I admit, the game with the piece of paper was not my finest moment."

"Hmph."

"Which is why I was trying to make it up to you!" He dropped the rag, instead stooping down to pick up the discarded sign. "We can still tape this."

"No." If she was going to find Kai, she was going to find him her way, without completely embarrassing herself. She just had to figure out how…

* * *

Perhaps it wasn't her most brilliant of ideas. At the time, it had seemed like a stroke of genius. Now that she sat in her dorm room nervously nibbling on her fingernails instead of doing her homework, it was easy to look back at the whole thing with a different perspective. It wasn't that she was lazy, either—she just thought it would be far too exhausting to run around campus all day trying to hunt Kai down. When she wasn't working, her time needed to be focused on studying. Just because a guy liked her, should she change all of her priorities?

It hadn't been her first choice either. She'd taken Kai up on his suggestion to ask around about him. A few people seemed to have heard about him, but they didn't know what dorm he lived in or what clubs he was a part of. Cinder had sort of been hoping that he was secretly their class president or something, and that it would be easy to locate him. But the people who knew of him only said things like, "oh yeah, he's hot" or "that guy is really popular, I think." One girl even blushed a little, which in turn had made Cinder just a little jealous.

She had also tried talking to the Registration and Records office, claiming that he had lost something important. She'd said that without his Student ID number or contact information it would be would be impossible to give it back. The secretary had stared her down before demanding that Cinder turn over the lost object, which of course Cinder didn't have, so consequently she had rushed out.

Thorne's sign idea had started looking pretty appealing, though she would never admit that to him. She remembered the movies she'd seen where the boy had lost the girl at the ball and had put up signs asking around about her identity—it seemed easy enough for them to locate her with that method. But Cinder had wanted something more efficient, something that would produce quick results without broadcasting her feelings for Kai around the entire campus.

That was how she ended up asking Wolf to track down Kai for her.

Her fingernail chewed thoroughly, she began tapping her pen methodically against her notebook. It certainly hadn't been her finest moment. _Asking_ Wolf was an understatement: she had basically bribed him with a month's worth of donuts on the house. He didn't know it yet, but Thorne was going to be the one picking up the tab on Wolf's free food as penance for making her lose Kai's number in the first place.

Wolf hadn't been coming to the Lunar Cafe as regularly as before. Now that he was with Scarlet, he only showed up when Scarlet showed up. No longer sitting in the corner with his newspaper, he usually offered a bashful grin out of the corner of his mouth whenever Cinder rang him up. His eyes, however, barely left Scarlet's. Hand in hand, the two of them were almost more nauseating than Winter and Jacin.

Scarlet still chatted up Thorne like she always did—or was it the other way around? It was in one of those moments when Wolf was standing quietly behind her, hands protectively on her hips, that Cinder's plan had formed.

Wolf was patient. Smart. Romantic. Somewhat instinctual even, from what she'd observed of him. He was even willing to cross a few personal boundaries to achieve happiness in love. He had waited incessantly for Scarlet to show up and notice him. And with all that waiting, he clearly had _plenty_ of free time.

Unwilling to let another opportunity slip away from her, she blurted out the first thing she thought of.

"Find Kai for me."

Thorne, Scarlet, and Wolf all turned to her. "Kai Prince," she added hastily. "He likes me, I like him,"—it was so strange to admit it out loud—"but he doesn't know I lost his number. Help me find him."

It was Scarlet who looked at her quizzically, somewhat amused. "Me?"

"Uh—sure. I was thinking Wolf, but maybe you guys could do it together. It…could be fun?" Stars, she was an idiot.

Thorne raised a finger. "I see where you're going with this. I like it."

"You don't know me well," Cinder continued to babble. "I get that. But I watched the way you found Scarlet and now you're together. And—your name is _Wolf_!"

At that, Scarlet began to laugh. "It must be a sign." She nudged her partner, whose cheeks began to heat.

"What do you say?" asked Thorne.

"The girl seems desperate enough," said Scarlet. Wolf still had not spoken.

"I can pay! Not in the traditional sense, maybe, but what about free donuts for a month? Anytime you come in here."

Wolf considered before he finally spoke. "Why can't you just do it?"

"I'm so busy," she said lamely, wanting to shrink down behind the counter. "And I don't even know how to track someone down efficiently. You…seem like the type who would know. Maybe even has contacts."

"You did track me down," said Scarlet, a finger trailing down his arm. More heat on Wolf's cheeks. More hope for Cinder. "Come on, help her out. This cafe did help us get together."

"Is he the guy who comes in here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday?" asked Wolf.

"You noticed?"

"I'm sure the whole cafe has noticed." He laughed to himself. "Plus, the only time you mess up orders are when he's around."

Had she really messed up orders and not noticed? Come to think of it, Cinder couldn't even remember other customers when Kai had come around, probably because she was too focused on how her tongue tended to stick to the roof of her mouth whenever he was in front of her. And then Thorne would step in and take care of other orders. Though slightly disturbed at her own transparency, Wolf's comment made her believe that he was even more qualified for the job.

Now, back in her dorm room, still fiddling with her pen, she desperately hoped she had made the right choice. Because if she had, she might finally find out what it would be like to stand in front of Kai, no longer wondering if he was thinking of her. They would be equals in their feelings.

That is, if she decided to trust him. It was very tempting to forget everything that happened and just fantasize about the two of them on a date. Even now, her thoughts drifted to his mouth, the way he smiled, the way her heart raced back to the desire to have his lips on hers. Her imagination ran just wild enough to allow herself to think about what it might be like to call him _hers_.

She was getting ahead of herself, she knew it. But stars, she hoped Wolf would just hurry up. If he didn't find Kai soon…well, she would probably need to take the embarrassing route. As in the buy-a-billboard, wear-a-sandwich-board, shout-from-a-megaphone-in-the-cafeteria route. Cringing just at the thought, she reckoned that something like that should do the trick.

Kai had better be worth all this trouble.


	12. Chapter 12

"Found him," said Wolf, handing her a sealed envelope. "Piece of cake. Or should I say piece of donut?"

Quirking an eyebrow, Cinder laughed feebly for his benefit, though it was more in disbelief than for humor.

"I'll cash in now," he continued. "I'm starved. He leaned over the counter with a slight smirk, which was an unusual look on him. "My favorites are—"

"—all of them," Cinder finished, brow still raised. "I know."

He shrugged and let his eyes trail to the various food displays. "Throw in a panini as a tip for how quick it went."

"It's _panino_ if it's singular," called Thorne from the back. " _Panini_ is actually plural."

Cinder shared a look with Wolf before she lowered her gaze to the envelope. "This, um, looks official."

"I'm good at what I do."

"What _do_ you actually do?"

He rested his chin on one fist. "Depends on who you ask."

"I'm asking you. You don't look like you're still in college."

"Let's talk about your crush instead."

Cinder turned the envelope in her hands and noticed that handwritten on the front was: PRINCE, KAI. "I wonder if anyone calls him Prince Kai," she wondered out loud.

"Funny you should say that," said Wolf, just as Thorne called out in a mock drawl: "More like Prince Charming!"

" _PrinceKai_ —one word, no spaces—is actually one of his social media usernames."

Cinder started. "You found his usernames too?"

"Wasn't hard. He's in a fraternity and therefore registered with Alpha Lambda Beta. Just had to do some digging once I had that information."

"Oh, a fraternity." She slid the entire plate of donuts to him, trying to hide her disappointment. Observant as he was, he didn't miss it, though.

"It's a business fraternity." When she stared at him, questioning, he continued. "Kinda nerdy if you ask me. They're partnered with the Students in Free Enterprise Association."

Business…enterprise…that didn't sound so bad. And if Wolf thought it was nerdy, maybe Kai actually spent time studying. The last thing she needed was someone else's social life to distract her from her own studies and possibly jeopardize her scholarship.

"The address of the fraternity house is in the envelope, along with some other details."

"Like a phone number."

"No," he said, wolfing down a donut. Maybe _that_ was where he got his name. "I'm not that good."

"But you found him online!"

"Through his fraternity. No one is allowed to list that kind of personal information these days on school websites. Social media is a little different."

Thorne came around to join them at the counter and clapped his hands in a show of admiration. "I'm impressed. And not a lot of things impress me."

"Have you finished my _panino_?" he said sardonically.

"Oh, of course, I'll get right on that," said Thorne.

Thanking Wolf profusely, Cinder excused herself to go to the bathroom, the only place she would have any privacy. She opened the envelope with shaky hands, excitement building up. There were two sheets of paper with information on Kai. While he hadn't been kidding about the phone number, there was still plenty of information to work with. He was a junior and majoring in International Business, following the MBA track.

She pulled out her phone and typed in the web address for Alpha Lambda Beta. There it was: a home page that featured more than a dozen guys in suits, with Kai smiling in the middle of them. She'd never seen him quite so dressed up, and he was just as handsome—if not more—than when he came to the cafe. Biting her lip, she placed the envelope into her back pocket, but not before she snapped some pictures of the information. There was no way she was risking losing any of this information again.

Then, she committed the address of his fraternity house to memory. She would go tomorrow night, when she wasn't working, and hope to her lucky stars that he was there. It wasn't ideal, but she supposed a house call was better than a sandwich board and a megaphone.

* * *

Cinder stepped uncertainly onto the porch that wrapped around the front of the Alpha Lambda Beta house. After returning home from work the night before, she had researched the fraternity both on a local and national scale. As Wolf pointed out, it did seem like a place for those who were interested in academic pursuits.

All members had to be on the MBA track, for one, to join the fraternity. A GPA of at least 3.5 was to be maintained. There were also specific community service projects that Alpha Lambda Betas needed to participate in every semester. The list of mock business competitions that occurred every year—many of them won by their college chapter—was admittedly quite impressive, as well. So impressive, in fact, that her own accomplishments in college paled in comparison.

To say the least, she was now not only nervous, but also intimidated.

She chastised herself for stupidly not dressing up more. After spending far too long agonizing over what to wear in front of the mirror, she'd settled on her favorite cargo pants and cropped white tank top. It may not have been the most fashionable of outfits, but she was comfortable in it. Plus, showing up all dressed up made her feel like she was actually going on a date—which she most certainly wasn't. But now, standing in front of the door and hesitating to ring the bell, she thought a little bit of a nicer outfit might have made her feel more confident, rather than just casual.

At least he wasn't seeing her in her work uniform again.

Or Valentine's Day heart antlers.

Or her sweaty gym clothes.

She had clearly made _quite_ the impression thus far, hadn't she? But Kai had said he'd been attracted to her from the first time he'd walked into the Lunar Cafe, work uniform and all. Her current outfit was an upgrade.

Worrying her even more was what she would tell him when she finally faced him. "Hi, I lost your number so I paid someone in donuts to find you" did not have the most romantic ring to it.

Cinder spun on her heels once, nearly turning back. Then she mustered up her courage and rang the doorbell before she could change her mind.

And then, she waited.

Finally, the door swung open, and she attempted her best carefree grin. It crumpled slightly when a guy with jet-black hair that was not dissimilar from Kai's opened the door. He was older by a few years, though, and his features were sterner and his eyes did not exude the same warmth as Kai's. He peered at her from behind the screen door.

"Hello, is Kai home?"

"No."

She stuffed her hands in her pockets, glad to have somewhere to put them so that she wouldn't twiddle her fingers nervously. This was why she had chosen a comfortable outfit, she reminded herself. "Um, will he be home any time soon?"

The guy checked his watch. "I think he should be back within the next half hour."

"Ah. Too bad I missed him. Maybe I could just leave a message with you?"

"Okay."

"Well," she began, trying to think of what exactly she'd want to leave in a message anyway. Maybe she should just leave her number. Yes, that would be fine. "Can you tell him that Cinder stopped by? I wanted to give him my—"

"Wait, you're Cinder?"

She paused. "You've heard of me?"

A flicker of amusement passed over his face. "Yeah, you could say that." He unlatched the screen door and held it open for her. "I'm Torin, one of Kai's friends. Do you want to come in and wait for him?"

She stared between him and the open door. Would Kai think it was weird if she was just waiting for him in his house when he showed up?

Seeing her hesitation, Torin added, "I think he'd be more than happy to see you. No pressure, though. We can leave the door open too if it makes you uncomfortable. I know you don't know me."

Only then did she realize that she hadn't even considered the fact that going into a stranger's house alone might not be the wisest decision. However, Kai had mentioned his friend Torin when he'd explained how he'd known to find Cinder and Aimery at the diner. Still…

"Could I wait here on the porch instead?"

"Sure."

He shut screen door abruptly and disappeared, leaving Cinder standing alone on the porch. She ambled over to the right side, where she could see the backyard better. The door creaked open again, though, and she turned to see Torin pulling a chair through the landing.

"Here," he said. "So you don't have to stand."

"Thanks."

"Mind if I join you while you wait?"

"No."

"Great."

He went back inside to grab another chair, and Cinder held the door open for him this time. They sat there mostly in awkward silence and Cinder wondered if Torin was more of the quiet type or the type who wasn't used to socializing with people. At least he wasn't wearing a business suit. She didn't really know what to ask him, either, though, and his stern expression kept her from wanting to dive into deep discussion with him anyway.

"Kai's a great guy," he finally said. "I've known him since he was a freshman." She still didn't know what to say, so she just nodded. "He's one of our brightest, poised to be a stellar entrepreneur."

"That's awesome."

"I know he likes you, and I support that, but I think you should be aware that he's worked very hard to get where he is today in his college career. He doesn't need any…distractions. The Alpha Lambda Betas have a reputation to uphold."

Miffed, she glanced sideways at him. He was totally serious. Did Torin think _she_ was going to take Kai off of his entrepreneurial path? He didn't even know anything about her! She was about to give him her two cents and tell him to stop acting like a parent rather than a friend—because honestly, who was he to make assumptions about her—but her thoughts skittered to a stop when a car pulled up in the driveway.

Her heart nearly plummeted through her stomach. It was Kai. She could see him in the driver's seat, staring up at her from where he was parking the car, recognition and surprise registering on his face. Torin got up and walked back into the house without another word, leaving an empty chair next to Cinder. _This was it._

The car let out two beeps as Kai locked the door behind him, and then he was jogging up the path to the porch and taking the steps in two strides. He stopped in front of her, looking at her curiously, a grin playing on his lips.

"Hi," he said breathlessly.

For once, she didn't try to hide the way he made her smile. "Hi."


	13. Chapter 13

"Cinder! Wow!" Kai raised his arms at her, as if trying to prove that she was real. "I wasn't expecting—hey!"

"Sorry, is weird that I'm here? I know I didn't—"

"No, no, it's fine. It's great to see you!" He took a step back and scanned her from head to toe. "You look incredible, by the way."

Cinder looked down at her clothes. "Oh, thanks, it's really not much."

"It is for me," said Kai. "I've never seen you without your work clothes. And I like your hair that way. Down, I mean."

A small bit of relief flooded her at his genuine tone. When he said it, it was flattering for the right reasons. An innocent comment, not like the way she'd perceived Aimery talking about her hair.

"I usually wear it up at the café—it gets in the way otherwise."

Kai nodded knowingly and stuffed his hands in his pockets. She held his piercing stare, having decided the minute he showed up that there was no point in pretending anymore that she didn't want to stare right back at him. Now that he was in front of her, she searched for the most elegant way to explain everything she had been keeping inside since she'd first seen him. It was still hard to wrap her mind around the fact that she could say whatever she wanted _. He likes you too_ , she reminded herself.

"So, uh, I know you didn't call me, but is it correct to assume you're here to see me?"

He winked at her even as she began to blush furiously. "Oh! Yes! I'm definitely here to see you."

The smile he gave her was so overwhelming that she couldn't do anything else but laugh nervously. If tonight went well and they were going to spend more time together in the future, she was going to have to talk to him about those smiles. He was the only person in the world that could make her feel like a puddle of water. But first, she'd have to find a nicer, less idiotic way to say, _I turn into a stuttering idiot when you're around._

"Thank the stars," said Kai, returning her nervous laugh. "Now I don't have to worry that you secretly like Torin." He walked to the screen door and held it open. "Do you want to come inside?"

_Do you even have to ask? Of course I want to come in!_ "Sure, thanks."

She walked in, careful to step over doorstep with exact precision; the last thing she needed was for her clumsiness to come out now. Kai followed closely behind her, almost bumping into her when she stopped in the entryway.

Cinder lived in the Artemisia sophomore dorms, which were nothing more than a stretch of buildings containing long hallways and two-person rooms. She had access to a small kitchenette at the end of her hallway, and since hardly anyone else used it, it served her well. The green flowery wallpaper was covered in pencil and marker scribbles, complementing the various smoke burns from previous users. She had accepted just how bland and drab it was and that was perfectly fine until she saw Kai's kitchen.

It was bigger than her entire dorm room. Cabinets and cupboards with rounded edges made of newly-finished wood lined the walls. A slate-grey island counter made an L-shape in the middle, leaving space for barstools and plenty of appliances. To the left of her was a table that rivaled what her step-family had used only for Thanksgiving dinners—and that had been using extension pieces. She counted twelve chairs, though the main page of Alpha Lambda Beta had made it seem like there were more people that lived there. By the size of the house, she bet it could probably house at least twenty people.

Kai brushed past her and headed straight for the enormous fridge, which was stainless steel, pristine, and made Cinder hate everything about her stupid kitchenette. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"A diet coke would be great." _Stars, was she incapable of answering anything he asked in more than one sentence?_ "Your kitchen is amazing, by the way," she added. "I can't even imagine all the things I could make if I had all this space."

"I know, it's nice." He slid her the coke across the island and perched himself on one of the barstools. "You like cooking?"

She sat down across from him and snapped open the can. "I would if I lived here."

"Well, I don't think it gets enough love with just us guys living here. You can come over any time and use it." Cinder raised her eyebrows as she took a sip, and he quickly tried to backpedal. "I mean—if you want. I'm sorry, was that too eager? I'm getting way ahead of myself. I'm a little nervous. I'm usually a lot smoother than this, I promise." He scratched at the back of his neck.

"You're nervous? You always seem so confident."

"Well, when I see you at the café, I've usually spent fifteen minutes walking there and have had a bit of time to reassure myself that I'm a charming guy worthy of your attention. I didn't have any time to prepare myself today. Since you didn't call me after I left you my number, I sort of assumed you weren't interested."

Sheepishly, she mumbled into her can, "I sort of lost your number."

"Ah."

"That's why I'm here." Her hand was beginning to tremble so she set the coke down. "I am…interested." Relief flooding his features, he did that smile again. "Kai, you're going to kill me if you keep smiling like that, you know."

He smiled wider. "I can't help it. I'm really stoked right now."

The door behind her swung open, and a lanky guy with bright blond hair walked in hastily, not even looking at them. "Hey Kai, you seen Torin? My notes for the conference tomorrow are kinda rough."

"Hey Sean. I think he's upstairs," said Kai. "This is Cinder, by the way."

Sean paused, then sauntered over to Cinder to shake her hand, eyes suddenly twinkling. Then he leaned lazily over the counter next to Cinder, looking between the two of them. "What are you kids up to tonight?" There was a distinct drawl in his tone that reminded her of Thorne when he was trying to stick his nose somewhere that wasn't his business.

"Just chatting," said Kai.

"Nice, nice," said Sean. He began to hum.

"Torin is still upstairs, Sean," said Kai pointedly.

"Oh, right. I'll leave you two alone then," he said. He winked at Cinder as he pushed himself away from the counter. "Cinder, it's been a pleasure."

"It was nice to meet you," she replied.

"Don't be a stranger," he called over his shoulder.

Kai, ears with a hint of red on them, looked endearingly cute, as if fighting an internal between saying something and keeping quiet.

"So Torin is kind of protective," she said. _More like_ _over-protective_.

"He's the oldest, and he takes this whole ALB thing a bit too seriously at times. He recruited me himself, and he thinks I'm wasting my time when I'm not one hundred percent focused on just my studies and our competitions. It can get old, but he means well."

"He thinks I'm going to distract you from your…destined greatness." She attempted lightheartedness, but she wanted to snort.

He shrugged. "Maybe I wouldn't really mind."

"I study a lot too. He can relax."

"What's your major?"

"Mechanical Engineering."

Kai whistled. "Wow. I bet you got a lot of scholarships for that."

"Yeah, it's the reason I'm able to go to college at all. Luckily for me there aren't that many girls who are into this field yet."

"I'll make sure Torin knows," said Kai dryly. "He tends to act like an older brother more than a friend."

"It's a fraternity, though, so isn't it supposed to be like a…brotherhood?"

"I suppose. We're a bit different from a regular fraternity. We get the title more because of legacy on this campus and how many awards we win. As long as we keep performing, they're not going to strip us of anything. And, as a prize, we get this big house." So Wolf had been right—they weren't the stereotypical fraternity. "We do have a conference tomorrow that Sean just reminded me of, so as much as I hate to say it, I should probably get up there and start reviewing too."

"What kind of conference is it?" she asked, pushing back her chair and standing up.

"We've been working all year to create a project that will help Gambian youth get access to renewable energy. It's part of our social enterprise campaign. We're presenting downtown at the Marriot with other ALB chapters in the tri-state area."

"That seems like a pretty good cause."

"For all the time we invested in it, it better be. And, just so you know, if it actually came to fruition, it would need both structural _and_ mechanical engineers someday."

She nodded. Many of the students in her own major were involved in similar projects, mostly because it looked good on a resume for a job later. She paused at the doorway. "Well, thanks for letting me come over."

"You don't think I'm going to make you walk home alone, do you?" He grabbed his keys off the wall. "Let me give you a ride."

"Maybe I drove here," she said. It wasn't that she didn't want Kai to drive her home, or that she even owned a car (she didn't). But the night had already been rather overwhelming for her, even with just admitting that she liked him. Maybe she should just leave on a positive note before she could screw anything else up.

"And…you hid your car somewhere along the way?"

Smirking, he gestured out at the street. There was not one car parked there. Instead, there were only cars heaped neatly into the driveways of neighboring houses.

"Okay, I didn't drive here."

"In that case, might I have the pleasure of accompanying you home?" he asked, mock-bowing.

"Fine," she grumbled.

He rushed ahead to hold the passenger door open for her. "Thanks," she said, sliding onto the sleek, leather interior of his car. She had seen outside that it was a 2014 model. Did he have a lot of money? Had he grown up rich, unlike her? Or was it his first car, and he'd just finally saved up enough money to buy this one? They felt like inappropriate questions for how little they knew each other so far.

When he got in and turned on the car, the overhead light turned off, plunging them into semi-darkness. His arm reached out behind her to grab the top of her seat as he backed out of the driveway. She closed her eyes briefly, imagining what it would be like if his hand dropped just a few inches and rested on her shoulders. He pulled it away quickly though, shifting the car into drive. And they were off.

"You gonna tell me where you live?"

The cologne he wore made her mind spin with thoughts of early springtime rain. "Right. Artemisia dorms."

"I know where those are. I used to know someone who lived there last year." He turned right at the light, and Cinder knew she only had a precious five minutes or so before the ride would be over.

She took a deep breath. "Kai? I never got a chance to respond to your"—was it a confession?—"um, gifts."

"Oh," said Kai. He glanced at her briefly before turning his eyes back to the road. "I hope you liked them."

"I did. I wanted to say thanks for taking the time to do that for me. It meant a lot."

He sighed. "I can never apologize enough for what happened with Aimery. The look on your face when you ran out of the diner is going to haunt me for a long time. I was sure I'd ruined any chance of you ever wanting to get to know me, but I had to at least try."

"I'm glad you did." Hesitantly, she reached out and touched his shoulder. He jumped. "Sorry," she said, quickly withdrawing her hand. They were pulling into the block where her dorm was located, anyway, and she cursed herself for bad timing and not having spoken up sooner. "There's something I want to tell you too. The truth is…I've liked you since the first time I saw you too."

Kai sucked in his breath, then practically whispered, "You have?"

"Kind of the same story as yours, except I never took any initiative at all. It's just that I was convinced you were a nice guy who was probably really popular and would never notice me, so I got used to trying to hide my feelings. I don't think I did a very good job at it though. I always felt like a blustering fool whenever you came by. Thorne always told me how obvious I was."

He pulled into an empty spot outside the dorm and put the car in park, leaving the engine on. He leaned back on the headrest and turned to the right to look at her. "I wasn't sure. I thought you sometimes seemed kind of flustered when I was around, but you usually disappeared whenever I tried to talk to you. I figured maybe you already had a boyfriend or just thought I was annoying. I got to know Thorne pretty well, though."

"No boyfriend," she said. "I was just excited to see you and then when you came in, I got so nervous it was unbearable. I wanted to say something several times, but I never could. Thorne knew, so he tried to help me out."

He leaned closer to her. "Do I still make you nervous?"

"Extremely."

"Good to know I'm not alone. Sucks though that we seem to both have missed out on a few months of getting to know each other. I'm mad at myself for chickening out too."

"I hope we can make up for lost time, Kai." She pulled at a strand of her hair, wishing it were in a ponytail like usual so she wouldn't play with it. "But I'm so used to trying to hide my feelings around you that it's still hard for me to convince myself that you like me and I don't have to hide anymore."

"I like you very much," he said, reaching for the hand that was still on her lap. He brushed his thumb over her knuckles and offered her a shy smile. "Maybe I can stop by the café tomorrow after the conference to say hi."

"I'd like that."

He withdrew his hand and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Great."

"Oh but Kai?" she said as she got out of the car. "Not that I didn't love the surprises, but I'm also kind of a private person. I don't really want everyone in the café to know everything about my, um, romantic life."

Kai snapped his fingers and pretended to speak into his watch. "Note: cancel mariachi band at the Lunar Café tomorrow."

She laughed. "I'm serious! Also, just so you know, I'm kind of new to this, and I think we should just take it slow. Get to know each other, like you said."

"Slow is good," said Kai.

She joined him on his side of the car and he walked her up to the dorm entrance. When she reached the door, she pulled out her wallet and turned to face him. "Thanks for bringing me home."

"Anytime," he said.

"Good luck at your conference tomorrow."

"Thanks."

He stood there, though, and so did she. Cinder wished that he didn't have to go at all, and by the look on his face, he seemed to be having the same internal struggle. Kai finally nodded and looked down. "Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Kai," she said, smiling. She pulled out her ID, ready to swipe herself into the residence.

"Wait."

He bit his lip and gave her a heated look that sent tingles down her spine. "Would it be too forward—too fast—if I kissed you right now?" Cinder's pulse quickened as he took a step closer to her. "I don't want to push my luck because I feel so lucky already just that you showed up tonight. But I'm having such a hard time not kissing you when I've wanted to for so long and _the way you're_ _looking at me right now_ I'm just—" He wrung his hands, taking a step back. "Aces, I'm saying everything wrong."

"Kai?"

"Yeah?"

"I'd like that."

"You—?"

She nodded.

Kai, suddenly not so nervous anymore, gravitated towards her as she backed up against the door for fear that her knees might buckle. He paused in front of her face, his eyes searching hers. They were warm and determined and full of longing. The perfect combination of sexy and adorable. His eyes flickered to her lips for the briefest of seconds before they went back to her eyes. Seeing how full of intent they were, she silently dared him to close the space between him.

Fingertips brushed her cheek and trailed down to her chin. He tilted her face up to his; she slipped her eyes shut. Warm lips brushed across hers gently, taking their time, sending currents of electricity shooting through her body. He withdrew slightly, but she wrapped her hands around his neck and pressed his lips back to hers. They melted into each other, neither wanting to break the moment, lost in the kiss.

He pulled back, lids heavy. "Wow."

"Yeah," she breathed.

"Now I'm _really_ mad at myself for never saying anything."

Cinder felt kind of dizzy, but she laughed of happiness nonetheless. "You should get back."

"I doubt I'll be able to concentrate on anything anymore."

"You're going to do great tomorrow. I'm excited to hear about it."

"I'm excited to tell you about it."

She pulled out her ID card again and swiped the door. When it beeped green, she pushed in. "Goodnight, Kai," she said, glancing over her shoulder.

He pulled out one last heart-stopping grin. "See you tomorrow, Cinder."


	14. Chapter 14

"Well, well, well. What a surprise to find you here."

Before she even looked up from the espresso machine, a chill went down Cinder's spine at the recognition of the crisp but sultry voice. The cool, indifferent front she plastered on her face did not match the warnings her body was registering at the sight of Aimery standing on the opposite side of the counter. She averted her eyes again, pretending to be fixated on the simple cappuccino she was preparing.

"Of course, you'll probably just end up working here for the rest of your life."

Cinder gripped the portafilter tighter. _Where was Thorne?_ Why did he have to be late today of all days? She mixed in the milk, creating a small heart shape per Lunar Café custom, and moved slowly to the pick-up counter. Wanting to linger there, away from Aimery, she tried to ask the waiting customer some questions, but it was clear that she was irritating him, so she finally placed his cup in front of him.

He took off, leaving Cinder with no other choice but to walk back to the register.

"Good afternoon. What can I get for you?" she recited robotically, staring vaguely in the direction of his neck. A piece of chest hair sprouted out from below his unbuttoned collar; she hated that.

Aimery sighed theatrically. "I know you'd just like to ignore reality, but that's what happens to people who graduate college without money or any connections." He bent down, leaning on the counter to meet her eyes. "Unless of course, you end up with a rich boyfriend who can take care of you."

She surveyed the room—the only regular today was Winter. It was too early for Jacin to show up yet and she had no idea what time Kai's conference would be over. He'd promised to come by afterward, but she worked until close, so it could even be a few hours. Cinder could only see Winter's back, her head bent forward in a mess of curls over her books. There were still other customers sitting at tables. Surely Aimery would not attempt anything untoward in a public setting.

"Are you going to order something or not?" she asked, her voice clipped.

"Not." He smiled at her, that same smug smile that now made her want to punch him in the face. "I've just figured out what deal you and Kai must have going on. Considering the circumstances and all."

The words slipped out before she could stop herself: "What circumstances?"

"Oh, you know…" He pursed his lips. "He's rich, you're not. He's desperate for affection, you're desperate for money."

Her mouth dropped open.

"Not hard to put two and two together. Business is all about making sure both parties are…mutually satisfied. Isn't it, Cinder?"

"You need to leave. Now."

He drew up, but left his hands on the counter. "Aww, did I hit a sore subject?"

She clenched her hands into fists. "Get out."

"You haven't seen the last of—"

"Thorne!" cried Cinder.

Thorne strode into the café casually, backpack over one shoulder as usual and jutted his chin out to Cinder in greeting. Then his eyes dropped to Aimery, who had turned his head to observe Thorne. Frowning, he pushed away from the counter as Thorne's expression iced over in recognition.

" _Porca puttana_ ," he muttered, then stopped and crossed his arms. "Is this guy bothering you?"

"Yes," said Cinder.

Aimery's eyes glinted as he regarded her again. He mouthed an offensive word which made Cinder bristle and then brushed past Thorne, purposely knocking into his shoulder. Thorne's jaw flexed, but he stayed rooted in place until the door shut behind him.

"Sorry I'm late," he said.

"You did great," came a lilting voice, making Cinder jump.

"Thanks, Winter," said Thorne.

Winter approached them, shaking her head. "I was referring to Cinder."

"You were listening to that and you didn't do anything?" asked Cinder, for the first time frowning at her favorite regular, who she practically considered a friend by now. Maybe she had been wrong.

To her surprise, Winter just beamed. "I didn't catch everything, but from what I heard it was clear that you were handling it well. He was _obviously_ trying to get a rise out of you but you didn't take the bait."

"But—"

"And he left when I showed up," added Thorne.

At that, Winter did frown. "It's despicable that a male presence should suddenly make him back down when Cinder was clearly rejecting him."

Thorne shrugged and pulled on his apron, folding it over so it only hung over his hips. Not actual uniform regulations, but certainly made it easier on the eyes. "Winter, _bella_ , some men need another male presence to set them straight."

"Exactly why it's despicable."

"He accused me of being with Kai for his money!" Cinder finally blurted. "And that I'm helping Kai—that I'm—that I'm doing"—stars were popping up in her vision, she was that enraged—" _favors_. How dare Aimery suggest anything of the sort?"

"He hates Kai," said Thorne, but then his eyes grew wide. "Wait! Hold up." He shook his hands frantically at her. "Forget Aimery. What happened with your _amore_?"

Winter squealed. "Did you talk to Kai? Did you find his number? Did you—"

"Yes, yes, and _yes_ ," said Cinder, a small smile returning to her lips. She touched them with her fingertips, remembering the way Kai's had felt against her own.

It was still so unreal. She had woken up this morning in a stupor, feeling light and giddy. Somewhat disoriented too, she'd gone through the motions of school but had not concentrated on any of the material in class. Her mind flitted instead to the heat between their bodies when they'd embraced, the way his hand had grazed her cheek, the way she'd pulled him in for more.

Essentially, she was putty and she knew it.

"Earth to Cinder," said Thorne, waving in front of her face.

"She's in love," said Winter. "This is _so_ exciting."

"He's coming today. To the café."

Suddenly, Winter was pinching her cheeks. Cinder smacked her away. "Ow!"

"You don't wear much make-up," she commented. "Having flushed cheeks is attractive."

Thorne let out a deep laugh. "Trust me, Cinder does not need any help blushing. More like needs a machine to _suppress_ blushing."

"Kai likes me the way I am," she said defiantly. Then, as if on cue, she knew there was heat rising on her cheeks.

"You did not," said Thorne. He raised his eyebrows. Cinder tried to look away. "You _did_! Already!" Thorne began babbling in Italian, clearly too excited to form intelligible sentences in a second language.

"Did _what?_ " asked Winter, which stopped Thorne's string of incoherent speech.

He clasped two hands together and shook them at Winter's face in disbelief. "Are you in a relationship or not? He obviously kissed her."

"I'm admitting to nothing," she said. She knew ear-splitting smile on her face was a dead giveaway though. Winter's shrieking wasn't helping either. "Shhh, everyone is looking at us."

* * *

5:45 P.M passed. So did 6:45 P.M. At 7:02 P.M., Cinder stopped looking at the ticking clock. How long did a conference take anyway?

Cinder's nerves escalated with every minute, unsure of how to react when she saw Kai. She wasn't in the clear with possibly embarrassing herself just completely yet—a far too enthusiastic "HEY!" could scare off anyone these days. What did she know about interacting with someone after she'd kissed him?

She studied Wolf and Scarlet, who had once before given her inspiration too. They had entered the café at precisely 6:37 P.M., making Cinder's enthusiasm wane when she saw that it wasn't Kai. They huddled together at Wolf's usual table in the corner, which held a large plate of donuts. He was pointing at something in a book, and Scarlet was following whatever he was talking about with rapt attention. It was also painfully obvious that they were playing footsy under the table. Would she end up doing that if she went to dinner with Kai?

 _You're being a total moron!_ she told herself, though the thought of Kai's foot caressing her ankle made the giddy, stupor feeling from this morning return in an instant.

When she nearly careened headfirst into Thorne, who was balancing three drinks at once and swore at her at her under his breath, she tried to shake it off. It lasted all of five minutes, because that was when Kai finally walked in.

_With another girl._

Watching them laugh at a shared joke, she sucked her jealousy back in immediately, feeling stupid when she remembered two things: first, that Kai had kissed _her_ last night, and second, the girl with him was his _sister_. Iko.

"Kai!"

She couldn't believe _Thorne_ had greeted him first.

"Thorne, how's it going?" They shared some sort of fist bump that made both of them laugh and made Cinder suspicious.

But then Kai turned his attention on Cinder. "Hey, beautiful."

"Hi," she said, almost shy.

Thorne draped his shoulder around Cinder. "She _is_ cute, isn't she? Especially when her face is all red like this."

Cinder pried herself away from Thorne. "How did the conference go?"

"We won! They're going to use our idea! It's—"

" _Hello-o_ ," said Iko, tapping her foot impatiently behind Kai. "Aren't you going to introduce me to Cinder?"

"Oh—of course!"

"I'm Iko," she said, stepping smoothly in front of him. "We never got to meet officially besides that one time you took our order." She jerked her thumb at Kai. "Couldn't get this guy to shut up about you all semester. But then I saw him smiling to himself at the conference and I knew something had happened between the two of you."

"Iko," Kai groaned.

"I knew too," offered Thorne.

"I just _knew_ ," Iko continued, ignoring them both. "So I made him spill the beans."

Kai grinned sheepishly. "Sorry for the somewhat, uh, _fast_ familial introduction. Iko has a knack for getting what she wants."

"I can't help it if a lifetime of living with you has allowed me to discover all of your weaknesses." She raised her eyebrows at Cinder. "You're one of them, by the way."

"Iko!"

Cinder couldn't stop her laugh when she saw Kai's mortified face. "So, um, are you a business major too?"

" _Stars_ , no. Business is for boring, old, stuffy people."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Iko's a fashion major. She thinks she's above everyone else."

"Maybe if you dressed as well as I do you'd understand why," she retorted.

Thorne listed his head at Iko, an amused expression on his face. "I like you. You should stop by the café more."

"Sorry sweetie," she said, "not interested. I see enough Italian models on the runway."

Thorne's amusement grew. "That's exactly my mentality. They're snobs, aren't they?"

They began to chatter animatedly about something related to Milan and fashion.

Kai shot Cinder a smile. "Can you take a break?"

"Sorry. I kept waiting for you to come in to take it, but I figured you might not even come until late." She said it casually, as if she hadn't been counting down the minutes of her shift.

"Sorry. I should have texted once it was over." He reached his hand across the counter until it connected with her finger briefly. It was a small, subtle movement, but enough to make her want to jump across the counter. "It's kind of hard to believe I can just text you whenever I want now."

"For the record, I like what you wear," she said. He was still wearing the tie from his conference, but had ditched the suit jacket. It made him look classic and professional and _very_ handsome.

Kai reached forward with his hand again so it lingered dangerously close to hers.

"Can I order something?" said a customer behind Kai. She hadn't even seen him come in.

Kai looked over his shoulder at him. "I'm sorry, I'm not done ordering yet."

"Thorne can help you," said Cinder loudly.

"Well, Cinder," said Kai, "I'll take a white chocolate mocha for starters." He leaned in to whisper. "Can you make it decaf? I usually don't have coffee this late."

"One white chocolate coming up," she said. "Hold the mocha."

She moved away from the register to begin mixing the milk and syrup for his drink. Kai followed her. "How was your day?" he asked, leaning in as far as he could over the pick-up counter. His hair fell over his eyes, making her heart tighten in anticipation.

 _I can't remember because I was too busy thinking about kissing you_. "Good, mostly uneventful." Then her hand tightened instinctively around the cup. "Until Aimery showed up here!"

The carefree grin Kai had on his face vanished. "What did he want?"

She gulped. "He said that you're using me and I'm using you." Cinder stirred the drink, not wanting to see Kai's reaction. "I guess I shouldn't have expected differently. But he made me uncomfortable. I thought he was going to threaten me when Thorne showed up and interrupted our conversation."

Kai's knuckles were turning white from gripping the counter. "It's my fault. He showed up at the conference today. He tried to make me angry, but I was all too happy to tell him his little plan to ruin us had failed. I'm such an idiot. I should have known. I'm so sorry."

Cinder slid his drink to him. She took his hand for real, not even attempting to hide it. "It's not your fault. Aimery is probably just a miserable person."

"Did someone say Aimery?" Iko stalked over to them with Winter in tow. "I hate that guy."

"Do you two know each other?" asked Cinder.

"Oh no," said Winter. "I was just bored so when I saw everyone talking at the register I thought I'd join too. I like making new friends." She smiled dreamily. Cinder tried to imagine how boring whatever she was studying would be to the average person if Winter couldn't even handle it.

"Thorne's busy anyway," said Iko. Her happy expression turned slightly sour and she pursed her lips at Kai. "Why are we talking about Aimery?"

" _We_ weren't talking about Aimery," said Kai, gesturing between Iko and him. "Cinder and I were talking about Aimery. And it's none of your business."

Winter stuck her hand out. "Hi Kai, I'm Winter."

Kai, slightly taken aback that she knew his name, recovered quickly. "Hi Winter."

"Cinder, is Aimery the one who was bothering you today?" she asked.

"Yes."

"What is _wrong_ with that guy?" asked Iko, turning to Winter of all people for confirmation. "First he nearly ruins Kai's freshman year, then he nearly ruins Kai's chances of being with Cinder, and now he's _harassing_ her?"

"Um, guys, it's not—"

"Enough is enough," said Iko, interrupting Cinder's attempt to have her tone it down a notch. She was beginning to get the impression that Kai's sister _never_ toned it down a notch. "Oh! I have the best idea. I already know what we should do about this."

"Report him for harassment?" supplied Winter.

"Where's the fun in that?" asked Iko. "No, we need to make him suffer. Torture him."

Cinder and Kai exchanged a worried glance, and Kai let go of Cinder's hand to reach for his sister's. "Iko, reporting him isn't a bad idea. He said rude things to me _and_ Cinder."

"Just because you're older doesn't mean you get to decide everything."

"No, but it's my _life_ , and my _girlfriend_ , so—" he stopped, caught himself, cleared his throat. "That is, um, Cinder, if you wanted—not to be presumptuous. I kind of assumed, after last night, that we were—" Iko's eyes bugged and Winter squealed again and Kai turned the darkest shade of red she'd ever seen on a man. "We just _kissed_! In case anyone needed that clarification."

Cinder decided there in that moment that she probably couldn't embarrass herself any more than Kai just did and frankly, he was adorable when he was stuttering. It made her like him even more. "I kind of assumed the same thing," she said, trying to reassure him.

"Well, now that's settled," said Winter. "Finally."

"You're telling me," said Iko.

"What was your plan, Iko?"

"It starts with egging and TP'ing his apartment."

"House," corrected Kai, suddenly looking rather chipper at Iko's suggestion. "He lives in a different frat house now."

Iko clapped her hands. "Even better. This is going to be great. But we're going to need recruits. My friends definitely won't help because they'll be afraid of breaking a nail or something."

"Aren't you?" muttered Kai dryly.

Winter raised her hand. "I volunteer Jacin. And me, of course."

"Jacin's her boyfriend," Cinder clarified. "Trust me, you want him on your side."

"Excellent. We'll take your friend Thorne too. He looks like he would enjoy some mischief. How about Saturday night?"

Cinder tried to imagine Thorne turning down an offer to prank someone. "I'm sure that if he's free, he'll want to come." Her eyes landed on Scarlet and Wolf, still huddled together in the corner. "Excuse me."

Cinder hurried around the counter and crossed the length of the café quickly—not that there was much space to cover. She waited patiently in front of their table until they both gave her their attention. "Wolf, thank you so much for finding Kai. I went to his house and—well, the rest is history." She beamed.

They both shared a conspiratorial look before smiling up at her. "Congratulations, Cinder," said Scarlet.

"I hope everything works out," said Wolf.

"About that. I know we still don't really know each other, but some of us from the café are going to go out on Saturday night. Do the two of you want to join us? We could use all the help we can get."

Scarlet's brow furrowed. "What kind of help?"

"I don't know all the details," Cinder admitted, "but we're going to be pranking this guy named Aimery. He's kind of the reason Kai and I didn't get together in the first place. Maybe it sounds dumb, but you don't have to participate in the pranks if you don't want to. Maybe we can just hang out. Since all of us are in here practically every day anyway. If you want." Cinder shut her mouth then, afraid she'd keep rambling.

"Wait, Aimery Park?" said Scarlet.

"You know him?"

"Not personally. But I do know his girlfriend, Sybil Mira."

Wolf practically growled.

Cinder shrugged. "I didn't even know he had a girlfriend." How could she have been so stupid to think that Aimery had actually wanted to go on a date with her?

"She's a witch, to say the least," said Scarlet. "And If this means taking down her boyfriend, I'm in."

"Then I'm obviously in too," said Wolf.

They exchanged numbers, and Cinder agreed to text them the time and location when everything was ready. Excited at the possibility of new friends and allies, she rushed back to the counter before it became too obvious to everyone that she was ignoring her café duties.

"Scarlet and Wolf are in too," she whispered to Kai, Iko, and Winter.

Kai's eyes twinkled. "All right." He rubbed his hands together, a cunning look that Cinder hadn't seen before lighting up his features. "Then let's settle this once and for all."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a work of fiction. In real life, if you feel like someone is harassing you, you should report it, as Winter suggested.


	15. Chapter 15

Cinder actually didn't need to do much in the way of planning. She had thoroughly underestimated the power duo that had quickly emerged in the form of Iko and Thorne. They had basically shanghaied the entire thing.

Iko, she learned, was hyper protective of Kai. Though she was Kai's younger sister—by only a year, she was sure to point out—she acted like she was the older sibling. It could have just been her personality. Iko was determined, outspoken, and full of crazy ideas. Kai laughed her off most of the time, though sometimes he tried to reign her in. _Back to reality_ , he would say. Still, Cinder couldn't help but feel a sting of pride that _Iko_ was so proud of Kai. Unlike the broken family she came from, Kai and Iko looked out for each other.

The real shocker was Thorne. After dealing with his antics for more than a year, she should have been more prepared for his enthusiasm. Of course, she had anticipated him wanting to participate in a late night pranking session, but not to this extent. Thorne, apparently, was _raised_ to get a thrill from pranking.

"It's in my blood," he said, that Saturday morning when he, Iko, and Cinder gathered at Kai's to make plans. "In Italy, we love pranks. The best is when we prank newlyweds."

Even Iko had raised an eyebrow in disdain. "Newlyweds?"

"Of course," said Thorne. "It's tradition. The night that a couple gets married, we go to the place they're going to spend the night and set up traps for them everywhere."

His delighted grin made Cinder cringe. "Traps?"

"For example, we'll set up bricks in front of their door so they can't enter their house. They'll have to spend at least an hour laboriously removing them all before they can get inside. But that's only where it starts. We might hide their mattress somewhere, or replace it with a water bed that as a small hole in it."

"That sounds horrible."

"No, it's so much fun."

"I would just go to a hotel," said Kai.

"They're not safe in a hotel either," he said, his voice elevating with glee. "We just get the keys from the front desk."

Cinder scoffed. "No way. Why would a manager give you a key to someone else's room?"

"Like I said, everyone does it. It's usually expected, so the lodging establishments will play along. It's all for good fun, in the end. Of course, we can't set up bricks or blocks in a hotel room, but there are other ways to prank them. We could hide alarm clocks in dozens of different places around the room and have them go off at random intervals throughout the night."

"That's despicable," said Iko. "You should just leave them alone. They just got married!"

He laughed. "They have the rest of their lives to be married! And besides, because of this I'm full of ideas for tonight. Here's something I've done in the past that we could do. We go into their room and place little cups of water everywhere on the floor. Then Aimery has to carefully pick up all the cups of water in order to get to his bed."

"That could work," said Kai. "I like the alarm clocks too. Aimery's kept me up way too many times thinking about how he might try to take advantage of Cinder. He deserves a restless night."

Cinder squeezed his hand. Even when Aimery had been at his most charming, something about him had always felt off. She remembered Thorne practically forcing her to go on a date with him, and then the awkward conversation in the diner, even before Kai had showed up. And the way he stared, always piercing through her in an almost predatory way. She never would have let him try _anything_ with her.

"Does Aimery like animals?" asked Iko suddenly.

Kai frowned in thought. "I'm not sure, why?"

"What if he doesn't care about his floor getting wet? Maybe he'll just stomp over the cups."

"I guess that's a risk we'll have to take."

"No," said Iko. "Let's buy some goldfish and put them in random cups."

"Iko," said Cinder gently, not sure how forceful she could be yet with Kai's sister. "I don't think that's such a great idea."

"It's a great idea!" said Thorne. "Iko's a genius." Cinder shot a pleading look at Kai, but a smile was playing on his lips already. "We should get at least twenty," he continued. "Spread them out evenly."

Iko high-fived him. "Yes! They should be twenty-five cents each. Can you get those?"

The smile diminished just slightly. "I'll buy them, but I'm not filling up hundreds of cups with water."

"There won't be hundreds. And we'll fill them up together in his house."

He nodded.

"Guys?" asked Cinder. "This is nice and all, but how are we going to get in their house?"

"Diversion," said Thorne.

"Kidnap them," said Iko.

Kai laughed and shook his head. "Calm down there, James Bond."

"Jessica Bond," Iko huffed.

He laughed again. "Whatever. It's Saturday night. Aimery's a partier. He'll be out with the rest of them."

"How many of them are there?" asked Cinder.

"Six of them."

"But it's a frat," said Iko disapprovingly.

"Not technically," said Kai. "They have the house but they don't like following rules."

"They could still be there," Cinder insisted.

"We'll just have a lookout," said Thorne.

"Fine," she said reluctantly.

Iko clapped her hands. "Yay! This is going to be amazing." She took her iPhone out of her purse and began to scroll through. "Thorne and I have been texting ideas back and forth, and I've taken the liberty of coming up with a list of supplies. We'll add goldfish and cups to the list."

She read the list aloud, and Cinder's eyebrow arched further toward her hairline with each new item. Toilet paper she had figured, because that was pretty standard, but peanut butter, saran wrap, and popcorn?

They divided the list and Cinder texted Winter and Scarlet accordingly with instructions.

"We'll meet at Kai's at 11:00 P.M. to get ready and then we'll head out around midnight," said Iko, once all preparatory tasks were divided.

* * *

Scarlet and Wolf showed up first, with the biggest jar of peanut butter Cinder had ever seen.

"Costco's," said Scarlet proudly. "And the saran wrap is in the car. We got a great deal on it."

Wolf cradled a normal-sized peanut butter jar in one arm. It was the _extra crunchy_ kind. He also had a spoon sticking out of his front pocket.

Scarlet saw Cinder staring at the jar and smiled at her. "It's in case he gets hungry."

Cinder guffawed. "The big jar isn't enough?"

He shrugged casually, though his cheeks reddened slightly. "You never know. Maybe there won't be any leftovers."

Kai waved his arms around the kitchen. "We do have food, you know. Help yourself. There's beer in the fridge as well."

"We're okay," said Scarlet. "We ate before we came."

"Who's bringing the popcorn?" asked Iko.

"That's us as well," said Scarlet, eyes twinkling. She shot a knowing look at Wolf and his blush deepened. " _That_ was what we ate for dinner. Someone couldn't resist."

"You had some too," he shot back.

"Is there still enough?" asked Iko.

"Yes. It's in the trunk. Bags of them."

"Perfect."

Winter showed up next, toting Jacin on one side and—to Cinder's surprise and Thorne's delight—the blonde girl that Thorne had tried to ask out in the Lunar Café on the other. For the first time that she had seen her, she was not scrolling through her cell phone.

"Cress!" said Thorne excitedly, then cleared his throat and toned down his enthusiasm. He straightened and held out his hand. "It's nice to see you again."

She glanced at Winter for a second and then took his hand. "Hi."

"Hi Cress, I'm Cinder," she said, stepping forward and shaking Cress's hand before Thorne could grip it for too long and embarrass himself. "I work at the café too."

"Oh, right," she said. "It's nice to meet you." She looked around the room at everyone and said in a small voice, "It's nice to meet everyone."

When everyone had introduced themselves, Winter stepped forward and looped her arm through Cress's. "Cress lives on my floor. She's a junior majoring in Information Technology, and she enjoys romantic movies and shopping."

"Thanks for that, uh, in-depth intro," Cress muttered, staring at her feet.

"This is her first prank adventure," said Winter. "When I found that out, I just had to invite her." Winter bounced on the balls of her feet, as if unable to contain her excitement. Her black curls bounced along with her. Jacin rolled his eyes behind her.

Thorne's eyes filled with just as much excitement as Winter, though he did not bounce. "First time pranking? Please, allow me to be your guide. I practically have a degree in pranking." With a flourished hand swept lightly against her back, he urged her away from Winter and into the kitchen with the rest of them. Then he gave his speech about pranks again, adding extra enthusiasm for the same newlywed prank examples that he'd already told Cinder, Kai, and Iko that morning.

When he had finished, he was puffed up in pride, as though he were a hero, but Cress looked horrified. "You did all that?"

"Yes."

"That's crazy."

Thorne waved his hand. "That's what everyone else said. The point is, I'm the most useful person tonight. You'll want to stick around me so you don't miss any fun. Plus, I can protect you if things get too crazy."

Cress raised her eyebrow, and Cinder and Iko shared a look due to Thorne's inability to flirt with Cress.

Thorne backpedaled. "If you want, of course. Or we could just hang out and watch the others prank everyone. We could just talk."

Iko put her hands on her hips. "I don't think so, _Signore_. You're part of my dream team. No backing out."

Thorne glared at Iko. Cress shook her head. "No, it's fine. I hear this sort of thing is a college ritual. I agreed to come because I wanted to be part of it and share in the experience. I suppose it could even be fun."

"Maybe you could hack into their computers," Thorne suggested. "Mess everything up."

At that, she smiled. "Unfortunately I haven't completed my concentration in hacking yet."

"Wow," he said, clearly impressed. "I didn't know that was a concentration. I guess it figures, with America putting its nose in everyone's business."

"I think she's joking, Thorne," said Kai.

"Hacking would be useful, though," added Scarlet.

"Indeed," murmured Wolf, fiddling with his peanut butter jar.

"This has been great," said Jacin, now holding Winter's hand. His expression was sour and severely contrasted his girlfriend's characteristically dream-happy state. "But can we get a move on? We're going to need to do this precisely if we don't want to get caught."

"There is always that risk, Cress," said Thorne.

"Did you bring the toilet paper?" Cinder asked Jacin and Winter, ignoring Thorne.

"Obviously. Did you bring the cups?" asked Jacin.

Kai and Cinder nodded unanimously. "All ready in Thorne's car."

"The goldfish are ready too," Thorne added.

"Then let's go," said Jacin. "We haven't got all night."

"Cress can drive in my car," said Thorne.

"She came with us," said Winter, pulling Jacin towards Cress and Thorne. "We can take her to Aimery's as well. Iko, you come too."

"We'll go with you, Thorne," said Cinder, nudging him out the door. While they were walking down the stairs, Cinder pinched his arm. "Would you stop coming on so strong? You're going to freak Cress out."

"I'm not even coming on to her!" said Thorne.

"You are," said Kai. "Relax, man. Just let it happen naturally."

"You mean, as naturally as you and Cinder?" asked Thorne, unlocking his car with a beep and sliding in. Cinder and Kai scooted into the back of his car with some difficulty, considering the live goldfish that were still floating in their bags all over the seats. After some re-arranging and several goldfish bags piled on top of them, Thorne added, "Let me remind you that the reason we're having this night out together is because neither of you were open about your feelings. At least mine are out there."

He turned around to drive the car out of Kai's driveway and smirked at the two of them over his shoulder.

Kai held up his hands, but then slammed them back down to keep the goldfish from falling out of his lap. "I see your point."

"No," said Cinder. "Both extremes are bad. We waited too long to do anything about our feelings, but you put yourself out there too quickly. And you do it with every girl."

Thorne faced forward again and Cinder saw his shoulders shrug once before he turned onto the street. When he spoke again, his voice was quieter than she was used to. "I don't flirt with _every_ girl."

Cinder snorted.

"And if Cress went out with me I wouldn't flirt with anyone else," he added.

"Don't try so hard, then," she said. "Just be yourself." She hesitated. "Wait. Maybe be just a little less of yourself."

Kai laughed but Thorne sighed dramatically. "Questa ragazza mi ucciderà."

"That's the spirit," said Cinder, ignoring the fact that she had no clue what he'd actually said.

* * *

They all parked in different places, for the sake of being inconspicuous. Thorne parked closest to Aimery's house, due to the problem of all the goldfish they would have to carry. Cinder tried to imagine him in a pet store, buying twenty bags of goldish in exchange for twenty quarters and winking at the store owner to show him it was joke. The store owner had probably thought he was crazy, but knowing Thorne, that idea had likely delighted him more on his mission.

When they met up in front of Aimery's house, they were ecstatic to find out that Kai had been right. All the lights were off in the house. Winter was brave enough to ring the doorbell, but no answer and no noise from the house further confirmed that it was vacant.

"You're about to go _down_ , suckers!" yelled Iko with a triumphant fist raised to the sky, before she clapped both hands over her mouth. "Oops."

"Let's go in," said Scarlet. "Every second counts."

Cress squeaked next to Winter. "Isn't that breaking and entering?"

"Not if the door is unlocked," said Thorne. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bobby pin. They all stared at him as he jingled it around in the lock. When it clicked open, he said, "seems to me the door is unlocked."

"Nice," said Wolf appreciatively. "I thought we'd have to use a window."

At that, even Thorne balked.

"Well, how did you expect to get in the house otherwise?" asked Wolf. They looked at Iko, whose expression told them very clearly that she hadn't planned for anything besides picking a lock.

"We're not going to steal anything," said Thorne, giving Cress a side-grin. "And this is Aimery Park. Douche of douches. He even fooled me."

"Definitely," said Kai. "You'd understand if you knew him."

"Or Sybil Mira, his girlfriend," added Scarlet. "Don't forget about her."

Her comment made Cress's eyes narrow. "I know Sybil Mira."

"Ooh, the plot thickens," whispered Winter.

"You better not like Sybil Mira," said Scarlet.

"Back off of her!" said Thorne before Cress could even speak. "She can like whoever she wants."

"The plot thickens even more," whispered Winter, making Cinder cover up a laugh in Kai's shoulder.

"Sorry," interjected Jacin. "She does that sometimes."

Meanwhile, Wolf had unscrewed the peanut butter jar that he was still carrying and dipped his spoon into it. His eyes were darting back and forth in amusement between his girlfriend, Thorne, and Cress as if he were watching a movie. Then he began to stuff spoonfuls of peanut butter into his mouth.

"No, I don't like her either," said Cress. "So count me in."

"Good," said Scarlet, her stern gaze lifting.

"Divide and conquer, people," said Iko. "And…someone else open the door because I don't want to be incriminated in anything."

Rolling his eyes, Thorne opened the door and beckoned for Cress. "After you, my lady." When she gave him a stern look of her own, he hastily beckoned to Iko, Cinder, and Winter. "And my other ladies, of course."

But as soon as Cress had slipped in, Thorne let the door go behind him, making it almost smack into Cinder if Kai hadn't been right next to her and blocked it. "Thanks, Thorne," she said.

Once up in the bedrooms, Kai pointed out which was Aimery's and they got to work immediately. Collectively, they covered his bed in reams upon reams of saran wrap, making sure that none of the sheets were exposed. They even went so far as to wrap up the bedposts. Wolf disappeared and returned with the gigantic barrel-like container of peanut butter.

"Spread," he said, throwing them plastic knives from his jacket pocket.

They dug in and began slathering peanut butter over the saran wrap. Soon, it became clear that the little knives were just not going to cut it. Cinder grimaced and reached her hand in, scooping out fistfuls of peanut butter and lathered it onto the saran wrap. The rest followed suit. Only Thorne and Jacin wrinkled their noses and did not partake. Within minutes, the bed was brown.

Cinder took one look at the finished product and burst out laughing. It smelled good, but it looked disgusting. When they had washed their hands thoroughly, everyone grabbed cups and ran back and forth between the bathroom to fill them up with water and line them around Aimery's bed. It was not the easiest task, and soon Cinder's back was sore from bending down and balancing the cups to keep them from spilling.

With so many people in the room, it started feeling far too crowded.

"Wolf and Scarlet and Thorne," called Iko, taking charge again. "Go get the goldfish. Jacin and Winter, go with them and get the popcorn so you guys can start setting up the popcorn booby traps. Cress, Kai, Cinder, and I will stay here and finish up this room."

When the others had left, Cinder found herself completing cups at the same pace as Cress. As they walked back and forth to the bathroom, she decided to do Thorne a favor. Even if he was a little too much at times, he had really helped her stay sane during all those hours at the Lunar Café, especially when Kai had been around to make her nervous. He deserved a little help too.

"You know," she started, turning on the faucet for Cress as she held her cups, "Thorne is a pretty good guy."

Cress put her cups under the water one at a time. "That's what Winter keeps telling me. I don't really know anything about him, though."

Cinder and Cress changed places so Cinder could fill up her own cups. "I'm sure he would probably tell you anything about him if you asked."

Cress smiled. "I'm starting to think the same thing." Then she stared at herself in the mirror. "He _is_ pretty cute."

"Yes and he knows it."

"Summers in Venice or Rome would be pretty romantic," said Cress dreamily. She continued to gaze in the mirror, almost longingly.

"Um—sure. Maybe he'll take you there some day."

That comment seemed to bring Cress out of her daydream. "Right. Well. That's not a reason to go out with a guy. I've just always wanted to go there."

"Well, it's not the only reason to go out with a guy, but maybe it's something to consider as part of the whole package? Thorne has other good qualities."

"Hmm…"

They hurried back to the room and continued filling up their cups. They left small gaps so they could drop in the goldfish without disturbing the set-up.

Cress had a hard time parting with them, giving them each a name and telling them to be good. In the end, Thorne gave her a goldfish bag so that she would leave and they could fill in the gaps. Cress squealed happily, named it Little Cress, and Thorne seemed pleased with that development.

When they were finished, Iko snapped a picture of their masterpiece—and what a masterpiece it was. _Screw you, Aimery,_ thought Cinder. _Kai and I made it anyway_. The two of them took a selfie together in front of the room, and then Kai kissed her again.

Like the first time they kissed, tingles shot down her spine and Cinder pressed her lips back into his for more. They broke apart when Iko cleared her throat behind them.

"This is adorable, but time is money."

"Right," said Kai, blushing just as much as Cinder.

They joined the others who were already with Winter and Jacin, setting up bags filled with popcorn that were ready to dump out on whoever tripped over the small strings that they had tied in front of the doors. They all stepped carefully over the strings, wanting to leave that sort of cleanup to Aimery and his buddies.

Once outside, they all ran back to Jacin and Winter's car to grab the toilet paper. And then they went at it, throwing as much as they could anywhere and everywhere.

Wolf had the best aim, and his rolls flew over the house with ease, unraveling in the air like it would in the movies. Winter and Cress were not so coordinated, but they managed to make a mess anyway, which was the point. Thorne did nothing but try to make Cress laugh by throwing his toilet paper at random. Jacin had decent aim along with Scarlet and Cinder, and Kai was somewhere between pathetic and mediocre.

When the last roll flew out of his hands, Kai yelled just as loudly as Iko. "That's for trying to ruin my life, Aimery!"

"And mine!" yelled Cinder.

"Let's get something to eat," said Wolf, when everyone was done cheering.

"You just ate," said Scarlet.

He shrugged again but then turned to Cinder. "Someone didn't bring free donuts."

"I could eat," said Thorne. "Would you, uh, want to come too, Cress?" he asked, running a hand through his hair and then stopping to hook his fingers on his belt loops instead. Cinder had never seen him look so nervous before.

"Um, sure," she said.

"Great," said Thorne, sounding relieved.

Iko, Kai, and Cinder agreed to come too, but Jacin and Winter bowed out.

"It's already 12:30 A.M.," said Jacin.

"Funny," said Cinder. "I never figured you were one to go to bed early."

"Sleep is important for the brain," said Winter. "If you're interested, I can give you my notes some day on the correlation between sleep and—"

"That's okay, Winter," said Cinder. "I'll see you on Monday at the café. Thanks for coming."

"It was great fun," she said. "Even Jacin had a good time."

Jacin harrumphed, but then he broke into a smile too as he slid an arm around Winter. "I always have fun when you're around, Trouble."

They said their goodbyes and left, leaving the rest of them to sort out rides. Before they could, however, a car pulled into the parking lot, making them all dive for cover in the neighboring yard. Crouching behind a hedge, Cinder watched as four guys got out of the car. It was too dark to tell who was who, but she really hoped that one of them was Aimery.

The swearing began immediately. They continued to let expletives fly as they surveyed the house and yard, toilet paper draped over it like a child gone wild in a wrapping paper store.

"That one's Aimery," whispered Kai, pointing. "He likes to use that word all the time."

Cinder watched the one who was supposed to be Aimery throw his hands in the air. "Let's deal with this tomorrow," he said to his friends.

"Yessss," hissed Kai. "Go inside. Go find out what's in there."

Aimery did, in fact, find out what was in there when he opened the door and popcorn rained down on top of him. Iko let out a small, almost inaudible shriek of delight.

"Nice work, Jacin and Winter," Scarlet breathed from a few feet away.

"Wait for it," said Wolf.

They waited only until they heard screams of fury from the second floor, and then they made a run for it. Wolf and Scarlet led the way with Kai and Cinder bringing up the rear. When they made it, gasping, back to Thorne's car, it was hard not to laugh. Even Cress joined in.

"Let's just go back to my place," said Kai. "We can order pizza."

"Excellent," said Wolf. He took off with Scarlet in the direction of his car, agreeing to meet them at Kai's.

"Wait for me!" called Iko. "It's going to be way too crowded if the rest of us all go in Thorne's car."

Thorne let Cress ride shotgun, and she hugged her goldfish bag like it were a prize. Cinder sat in the back again with Kai. His hand reached out behind her and grabbed hold of her waist. She snuggled her head into the crook of his neck. It was still hard to believe that for her and Kai, this would be normal from now on.

Cress began chatting with Thorne in the front, asking him about Italy and his choice to come study in the USA. He responded eagerly, taking turns asking her questions as well and shooting her appreciative glances.

"I think she's warming up to him," Kai whispered to Cinder.

"Maybe," she whispered back. "It might take a while."

"They have time."

"Yeah," she agreed. "Maybe it's not love at first sight for her, but you never know what could develop. They're kind of cute."

Kai's grip around her waist tightened. His fingers against her sweatshirt felt just right, just close enough to feel safe and wanted. "Speaking of what could develop, Cinder...I hope we make it to the moon and back."

She lifted her head up from his neck to look at him. His eyes were sincere, his smile was kind, and his face shone with hope. Remembering the first day she'd met him, she couldn't stop herself from kissing him once more.

"Me too, Kai. Me too."

* * *

**~*~ The End ~*~**


End file.
